The London conference on 8th May 2019 is now established as a flagship for the UK trade market

See details below:

16.35 Question Time: Quizzing the UK’s future trade leadersWith the UK trade market enjoying a mostly ageing demographic, it has never been more important to educate and attract more young people to the industry, whether for exporting companies or the financiers tasked with supporting them. Why are so few UK companies exporting? What can be done to improve the situation? Is the talent of tomorrow looking to work in trade and exports? What is the role of membership bodies and professional initiatives in promoting the benefits of international business? How can the market stay competitive? This session, themed on the Question Time format, will bring various experts and practitioners together to consider these and many other themes.

FEEDBACK from Vestas Wind Systems A/S

world-leading wind turbine O&M

International Women’s Day 2019 - #BalanceforBetter – 8th March 2019

We are pleased to celebrate the successes of women across the sectors that we work in, on International Women’s Day. We are committed to equal pay and equal opportunities. Gender parity is promoted and we celebrate it.

We at Coltraco Ultrasonics are proud to help give women self-empowerment with a second career. As part of our mission to support upskilling women at all stages of their careers, we are proud to share that our team has recently been joined by Rebecca Gray. Rebecca shares with us her story, as part of this International Women’s Day:

“When I had my son, my whole world was turned upside down and my career as a Business Development Manager in the Aerospace world took the back seat to my new job of Mum (nurse / teacher / entertainer / cleaner / full time worrier and general dogs body) and I would not have had it any other way. Becoming a mother is the biggest privilege and despite being the hardest work I have ever done, is also the most rewarding. As my son has grown up to the ripe old age of 6 years old, he needs me just a little bit less and I need a bit of something just for me. I wasn’t quite sure where I would find that something, until Coltraco Ultrasonics came along. This amazingly forward-looking company has offered me work that I am able to fit in around my son and the school day. The hours are flexible, the people are lovely and my brain is gradually revving back up again! My son is excited that I am working for a company that makes equipment to, in his words, “keep people safe” and I am proud to show him that Mum has talents beyond housework, grocery shopping and building castles out of cardboard boxes! Coltraco Ultrasonics is a company that believes in gender balance and promotes the value of women in business.”

We are delighted that women are celebrated for their achievements and we hope that this success and progress will continue globally. This year we will continue to #BalanceforBetter.

Director of Sales committed to USA relationships

Miami, New York, Las Vegas

Doing business with integrity is good for business.

We support UK Government’s #BusinessIntegrity drive to “help prevent bribery and corruption when doing business in emerging markets”

DIT Roundtable on Argentina, Bristol

Sr Sales Manager with attendees

Student Engagement at UCL Engineering Fair

Clare and Daniel supporting student talent

UKGov Department for International Trade invites Carl Hunter CEO of Coltraco Ultrasonics to become a 2019 Export Champion, London – February 2019

Extract taken from the invitation letter from the Department for International Trade:

“The Department for International Trade (DIT) launched its Export Strategy in August 2018, with the objective of increasing the value of GDP through exports from 30% to 35%. The ‘Encourage’ lever of the strategy commits to promoting peer-to-peer learning by forging a community of Export Champions who will encourage others to develop their international sales.

We are, therefore, recruiting a cohort of 2019 Export Champions from across the London region. This is a group of 40 successful and inspirational exporters who are willing to share their time and experience, and encourage more companies to export.

[sic]

Export Champions are named individuals at companies that have successfully sold overseas and are prepared to encourage others to consider growing their business through exporting. Typically, this could include speaking at export events, telling the story of your export journey; joining roundtable discussions; providing quotes for press releases, hosting ministerial or other VIP visits, contributing to developing DIT strategies; and providing informal guidance and encouragement to companies new to exporting, for example through media activity.

Good Friday morning. This is Annabelle Dickson. There are five weeks left until Brexit Day.

FROM THE EXPORT WORLD

Following Business Secretary Greg Clark’s select committee warning earlier this month about the need for a Brexit deal by mid-February amid concerns from exporters, Playbook asked the British Exporters Association to put us in touch with one of its members to test the temperature. Carl Hunter, chief executive of Coltraco Ultrasonics, which manufactures ultrasonic safety and survey equipment and sends half its exports to the Indo-Pacific, got in touch.

On Clark’s warning: “I regard any Cabinet minister exceptionally highly, but I also expect a degree of restraint in their remarks, because they should realize the effect [on confidence],” Hunter said. He added that independent membership of the WTO shouldn’t be described as “catastrophic or disastrous because it has no other implication beyond doing what I first had to do in business, which is fill out the occasional form … we were delighted to fill out those forms because it meant we had an order.”

On tariffs: Hunter claimed to be in a position to absorb tariffs if he needed to, and believed other businesses would be too, because “the enthusiasm to trade overseas would overwhelm any tariffs at all.”

Businesses reliant on EU trade? “I recognize there may be a sliver of our economy that is entirely dependent on the arrangement [with the EU] as we find it, I just struggle to imagine why they would not do what business always does best, which is adjust to changing circumstances.”

Back the deal: “I think we have spent all our last six months pouring over [the backstop] and have forgotten the magic words in the Political Declaration that describe one of the most perfect relationships we could ever have hoped for with the EU having voted to leave it,” Hunter said. The declaration “made clear that the EU recognizes the U.K. will have its own independent trade policy … I think we should give particularly the prime minister, but the government overall, a break because I am absolutely convinced most people are discussing something that they have not read, and sometimes I wonder whether our parliamentarians haven’t either.”

Preparing for Brexit? On the implications of tariffs, harmonization codes, how we are going to ship goods post March 29, what rules of origin are going to apply and so on, Hunter said he was “going to go to our contractors and pay them to do that … We will not absorb effort from [our] engineering, science and commercial endeavors … we will not allow those to be distracted by the administrative things that we can outsource to people that are already trusted suppliers of ours.” Hunter’s goods are generally shipped by air.

Civil service impartiality: Hunter claims to have met numerous civil servants since the Brexit vote. “I was always on the lookout for a civil servant to say ‘it was a stupid policy, I hate it.’ I never found any and I only saw one raised eyebrow. That is good enough for me.”

Message to the ERG: “When I look at the ERG I really wonder how many of them have exported … we have had two years where everybody has had their say, [Theresa May] has tried her very best to accommodate everybody’s concerns and hopes … compromise was the only outcome and the work to achieve the Political Declaration is massive, but it will best be done if we stand behind it and the person that leads on that … should be the prime minister, who stands head and shoulders above every other political figure in this country.”

SHE AWARD SHORTLIST - Fire Innovation of the Year - Feb 2019

Coltraco Ultrasonics are honoured that their new Portasonic® 2.FL0 has been shortlisted for the “Fire Innovation of the Year” Award by Safety & Health Excellence (SHE). Discover why Portasonic® 2.FL0 has been shortlisted – click here

The shortlist has been announced for the inaugural Safety & Health Excellence (SHE) Awards, which includes categories on fire safety and security and incorporates the long-standing British Safety Industry Federation (BSIF) Awards. The winners will be unveiled at a gala awards dinner on 10 April 2019, which will be hosted by comedian Sean Locke at the prestigious VOX at Resorts World, NEC Birmingham.

Our Spanish customers benefit from local expertise and support throughout the country. This month we celebrate working with FiresconFire

Safety Consultants S.L. who are an Engineering and consulting firm based in Madrid.

Ivan Arranz, General Director Bch. Engineer & M. D. on Fire Safety Engineering Specialist on Gaseous Based Fire Suppression Systems for Firescon says the following: “We do a number of services divided into 3 main areas: engineering (Projects, designs, calculations, peer review, etc...), auditing (Inspection and testing of systems and equipment; reviews and evaluations of facilities by law and/or according to reliability and effectiveness) and consulting (Code consulting, expert-base training, independent advice on many issues, etc...). Our main values and differentiation are independence, experience and knowledge (apart from maintaining high ethical and honesty within the sector). Our technicians and associates are actual experts in a particular area within the whole discipline of Fire Protection Engineering.

“As an independent fire engineering consultancy firm, we do not involve in the supply of extinguishing systems or agents. It is rare that we take advantage of products. Exceptionally, we only market some products, those of our greatest confidence, due to their trajectory and technical quality, innovation and contribution to the Fire Protection market needs, which we know well enough. It is why some time ago we became the COLTRACO ULTRASONIC´s representative for the Fire Protection market in Spain.

“We trust that our partnership with COLTRACO helps to increase the quality of services provided within the Fire Market in our country. In this way, we also try to increase the level of availability and reliability guarantees of the fire suppression systems, for a better protection of high value assets, which these systems are intended to.”

Clare Hunter, Head of Marketing & Communications, Coltraco Ultrasonics: “I have known Firescon since 2014 and in the last two years have welcomed them as our distributor for the fire safety market in Spain. It is a pleasure to work with Ivan and Sonia and develop the understanding of fire suppression systems servicing in Spain together.”

A leading food processing factory in Slovakia chose the Portalevel® MAX Industrial to save time and money.

PROBLEM:

They were faced with a problem in production of apple puree, to be used in baby food and juice products.

The apple puree is stored in large steel tanks, at 4.5metre in height.

However, the factory had no way to check the liquid level of apple puree inside the large tanks, which was affecting their efficiency.

INNOVATIVE SOLUTION:

A site visit was conducted by Mr Lubomir Ernst, our Central & Eastern European Regional Director, to inspect the tanks.

The Portalevel® MAX INDUSTRIAL quickly and accurately gauged the liquid level of apple puree within the tanks.

Using the Portalevel® MAX Industrial provides the staff a means to accurately and non-invasively monitor the apple puree. The implementation of the Portalevel® MAX INDUSTRIAL will allow the plant to run more efficiently, saving them time and money.

The Department for International Trade (DIT) video of CEO Carl Hunter

We are proud to announce that Mr Alexander Petrov of GIS Innovations will be expanding his distributorship from Russia to Baku, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan also. Alexander supports Coltraco Ultrasonics in these countries distributing the Portalevel®, Permalevel®, Portacare® and Portascanner® range. GIS Innovations are dedicated to the provision of engineering services and supply of equipment for the construction and maintenance of complex safety of oil and gas, petrochemical, chemical and marine industries.

Leading the launch were the leading lights of the marine industry in the UK including the IMO Secretary-General, Kitack Lim; UK Secretary of State for Transport, Chris Grayling; UK Minister for Shipping, Nusrat Ghani MP and the main UK marine associations led by MaritimeUK.

CEO Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter says: “This is a special day. The UK is a global maritime nation. Maritime 2050 is the UK’s first 30 year strategy recognising the essential role of the UK maritime sector in the global economy and the lead role of the UK in the International Maritime Organisation.

“It places our maritime sector at the centre of who we are as a nation and our nation’s key role in upholding the rules-based international order. I warmly congratulate the dynamism and professionalism of the fine Civil Servants and Ministers at the Department for Transport, and the UK maritime Expert Panel for producing the highest strategic thought I have seen in my 25 year career in UK maritime. It complements the UK Government’s Export, Industrial and Environment Strategies in 2018 and together these combine to powerful intent and implementation of our defining Global Britain strategy.

“I am grateful that our company, as an 89% exporting manufacturer, was able to modestly contribute the essential importance of rule of law and values of integrity to the UK’s place in the world in consultation to the magnificent policy set out so clearly in Maritime 2050.”

Extract from Dept for Transport :

Maritime 2050 is about anticipating the challenges and opportunities ahead and recognising the UK’s strengths so we are well placed to capitalise on them.

Underpinning our work is a set of five core values for UK maritime: ● A premium brand, not compromising on safety ● A balanced set of priorities ● A commitment to the rules-based approach ● A truly global United Kingdom ● Real partnership between government and industry

Our strategy coalesces around a set of 10 core strategic ambitions. These ambitions provide, in their simplest form, our bold and aspirational objectives as we head towards and beyond the second half of the 21st century.

Ministerial Statement from Nusrat Ghani on Maritime 2050 "I am today announcing the publication of Maritime 2050: Navigating the Future, the government’s landmark strategy setting out our vision and ambitions for the future of the British maritime sector. Our nation depends on the wide range of benefits the maritime sector delivers. Read More..

CEO at President of Board of Trade Awards - 21 Jan 2019

Our CEO was honoured to be welcomed at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office today where the Rt Hon Liam Fox MP, President of the Board of Trade, an office founded in England in 1672, presented at the Board of Trade Annual Exporting Awards.

Exhibiting at Intersec fire safety show, Dubai - 19-22 January 2019

We have been exhibiting at Intersec fire safety show in Dubai, UAE this week Sunday 19th – Tuesday 22nd January 2019.

Thank you to all our loyal customers old and new who took the time to visit our stand, meet the team and see product demonstrations.

Team from left to right:

Assistant Research & Development – Benjie Cowan

Sr Sales Manager – Karen Jones

Director of Sales – George Hunter

Assistant Marketing & Communications – Chloe Kay

Brand Loyalty – Beverly Otar

Brand Loyalty – Cristine Restauro

CRM & SRM Lead – Cazmir Fernandes

(not pictured) Director Middle East – Capt Peter Machado

A Picture of England

The United Kingdom remains green and pleasant indeed.

Karen Heading for Intersec 2019 in Dubai

Karen is exhibiting at Intersec this week in Dubai with Chloe, George, Benjamin and Peter. Intersec is the largest fire and security show in the Middle East and where we have proudly exported for over 20 years. Our strategic partner in the countries of the GCC is Captain Peter Machado.

CEO at UK-ASEAN Business Council - Jan 2019

Our CEO joined the UK-ASEAN Business Council Dinner at the House of Commons.
Baroness Fairhead, Minister at the Department for International Trade, addressed the audience. ASEAN is the Association of South East Asian Nations. Asia accounts for 40% of Coltraco's exports globally.

WATCH: CEO Forum Interview in NYC - with Bill Peters & Carl Hunter - during the UK-US International Trade Day

Dr. Hunter is the CEO & Managing Director of Coltraco Ultrasonics, a designer and manufacturer of portable instruments and fixed monitoring systems for the naval, shipping, offshore, energy and fire industries. Dr Hunter joined the UK-US “International Trade Day” in New York on 22nd October 2018, hosted on HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier. Learn more at : http://www.coltraco.com/ceo-joins-uk-us-international-trade-day-in-new-york-22-october-18/

The CEO Forum Group is a Tier 1 media companyfocused exclusively on disseminating wisdom from and to leading or “Transformative” CEOs to elevate business, the economy and society. The company’s impactful platforms and tools for storytelling, learning and connections include a bi-monthly magazine and nationally syndicated radio show, cited as the #1 podcast for CEOs in America. The CEO Forum Group has become recognized as “The Transformative CEO Community” for its efforts in helping to build success. Learn more at : https://theceoforumgroup.com/

Portalevel™ in-service with Shangri-La Hotels on FM-200™

With our thanks to David and Adrian, Portalevel™ MAX is now in-service monitoring FM-200™ systems at prestigious Shangri-La Hotels throughout Asia alongside Portasteele™ Calculator, the world’s first unit to convert liquid level readings to agent weight and mass.

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Please come to speak to our experts, see our innovative products and benefit from our Intersec show offers. Its a great time to discuss how we at Coltraco Ultrasonics can support you in 2019 by being better, faster and cheaper.

Discover how you can deliver a SAFESITE® to protect your people, assets and infrastructure by inspecting:

The Portasonic® 2.FL0 Meter is Faster, Better & Cheaper

The Portasonic® 2.FL0 is the second generation of Coltraco’s ultrasonic flow meter that is used to measure flow rates of clean liquid in pipes. The Portasonic® 2.FL0 utilizes two transducers, one that acts as an ultrasonic transmitter and the other as a receiver. The software calculates the time it takes for the ultrasonic pulse to pass from the transmitter to the receiver, which is dependent on the liquid flow rate.

The Portasonic® 2.FL0 is:

FASTER: Non-invasive flow measurement, stores up to 2000 lines of data with easy export to computer.

BETTER: Long term reliability and battery life, light weight and compact.
CHEAPER: Ensure accuracy first time with device calibration in an ISO 17025 certified lab with traceable results, accuracy of +/- 1% of reading at rates > 0.2 m/s.

See the Portasonic® 2.FL0 here:
For pricing or further information contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Buildingdoctor DMCC in Dubai is the international expert in enclosure integrity testing, airtightness, thermography and building physics. Apart from providing testing services and training in the mentioned subjects, sales of high quality measurement equipment is at the core of the company.

CEO, Mr Rob A.C. Dam said “As an official distributor for multiple brands, the aim is to always support customers with the latest high quality equipment that helps them to perform their tests in the best and easiest way. We are proud to add Coltraco products to our range of products to further support our customer base with their needs.”

CEO Professor-in-Practice at Durham Business School

Our CEO has been confirmed by Durham University as Professor-in-Practice at Durham Business School lecturing from January 2019 on undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and supporting the Business School in building capability with respect to data and decision sciences. Durham Business School was ranked UK No 1 and world No 3 by the Financial Times Top MBA’s for economics 2018.

CEO at Department for International Trade Reception – Dec 2018

Our CEO joined the Secretary of State and Permanent Secretary of the Department for International Trade and British business leaders at Lancaster House in London this week to celebrate the partnership between business and HM Government and the success of DIT and UK trade and investment performance.

Singapore is a central hub of world trade, through its maritime core. We are honoured that we can support the maritime industry in Singapore with our core technologies in the monitoring or watertight integrity and gaseous extinguishing systems.

Awarded UKAS ExVeritas Certification to ISO 9001

Our Marketing & Communications Assistant, Chloe, was pleased to attend the Renewable UK Onshore Wind Policy Forum in Edinburgh, 26th November 2018. The policy forum comes as public support for renewable energy in the UK hits 85% in 2018. The forum was followed by a reception hosted at the Edinburgh Civic Centre.

Coltraco Ultrasonics provide smart Safesite® solutions which enable wind turbine owners and operators to improve their fire safety management and reduce the risks to human life, business continuity caused by any downtime and thus minimise risk to reputation.

Director speaks at The Institute of Fire Safety Managers Technical meeting on the “Ungoverned Space” - 26 November 2018

The Institute of Fire Safety Managers invited Coltraco Ultrasonics to speak at their Technical meeting on the in Reading on 26th November 2018.

George Hunter, Director of Sales, introduced the association to a holistic view of fire safety. He looked at the risks of fixed liquefied gaseous fire suppression systems if the contents accidentally discharges or leaks, connected with compartmentation and the need to ensure smoke and fire are contained, as well as containing the suppressant gas so it is held in the room for the required time. “Thank you to the IFSM for kindly inviting us and connecting me to these fellow professionals who keenly understand the need to improve fire safety in the UK.”

Senior Sales Manager Presents at ABMEC UK Conference About the Value of Exporting

Our Senior Sales Manager, Karen Jones, was delighted to support #exportingisGREAT in mining today at the ABMEC (Association of British Mining Equipment Companies) Conference, presenting to over 120 delegates. The conference was held in Nottingham, at the Belfry hotel.

Karen's presentation was titled "Why exporting is great, the benefits of and support for exporting in the UK".

The Association of British Mining Equipment has a history dating back almost 100 years. Its role as an Association is to provide a service to its members in order to help promote sales, growth and gather market intelligence.

Their machinery and services are utilised all over the world, meeting stringent environmental requirements and extreme climate challenges. British expertise in engineering is demonstrated with the high quality of workmanship coupled with excellent safety standards.

A leading UK Gas-Fired Power Station has chosen to improve their fire safety. Coltraco’s Director of Sales and R&D Manager successfully installed the Permalevel® SINGLE POINT 24/7 fire system monitoring system.

The Permalevel® Single Point provides constant contents verification of fixed fire suppression systems, essential at a safety critical site such as a power station. At this power station, the Permalevel® Single point was installed on 2 x 60KG and 180KG FM-200® cylinders.

Partner Spotlight: Director Middle East at ICS Annual Student Awards

British High Commission Islamabad marks Remembrance Day

The service paid tribute to all those from the United Kingdom, other Commonwealth countries and elsewhere who lost their lives during conflicts from World War I to the present day.

A Remembrance Day service was marked by the British High Commission in Islamabad

A Remembrance Day service was marked by the British High Commission in Islamabad today to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War and to commemorate those who sacrificed their lives in that conflict.

The commemoration was attended by representatives of the Pakistani armed forces, Commonwealth High Commissions, EU member states and other friends and allies.

Thomas Drew CMG, British High Commissioner to Pakistan, said:

It is a privilege to be able to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I with this ceremony today. This is an important moment to remember those who laid down their lives in conflicts over the years. It is our duty to remember all those who fought to secure our future. Celebrating Armistice Day in Pakistan, we remembered too the many soldiers from this part of the world who fought in the two World Wars, as well as the many sacrifices of recent years.

It is indeed a part of the world where current day conflicts are very real. As we remember the fallen, I hope that we can also think of those who continue to serve – to protect us, our values and future generations.

CEO with CEO of IMarEST and the Trustee of Sailor’s Society

Carl is a Fellow of the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology

Remembrance Day - Proud to sign the Armed Forces Covenant

Coltraco Ultrasonics are proud to have signed the Armed Forces Covenant. Commemorating the World War I Centenary in this way recognises the company’s history of public service.

“We, Coltraco Ultrasonics, commit to honour the Armed Forces Covenant and support the Armed Forces Community. We recognise the value Serving Personnel, both Regular and Reservists, Veterans and military families contribute to our business and our country.”

The Covenant aims to support serving personnel, veterans and military families. The Armed Forces Covenant is a promise by supporting companies and personnel, ensuring that those who serve or who have served in the armed forces, and their families, are treated fairly. So far, over 1,500 businesses have signed the covenant.

Three generations of the Hunter family have been involved in the formation and growth of Coltraco Ultrasonics, a British Manufacturer of Ultrasonic Technology, and each have served in the armed forces.

One of the founders of the company, Mr Eric Charlton Hunter, was a former Royal Navy submariner and spent 27 years at sea and with the Admiralty Research Laboratories. Co-founder and CEO, Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter is a former Greenjacket Officer in the British Army. Together co-founding the company when our CEO left the military. Now a third generation of the Hunter family work for Coltraco Ultrasonics. Meanwhile the third generation of the Hunter family enters HM Armed Forces, with our former Technical Sales Manager, Mr Henry Hunter commissioned into the Royal Marines and passing out next month prior to joining his unit.

Happy Diwali!

Proudly supporting customers in India for 20 years

Honoured to Support the Royal Navy

We are proud to work with the Royal Navy to engineer the innovation of our unique watertight integrity and pressurised gaseous extinguishing monitoring technologies. Our Navy are themselves extraordinary innovators bringing to the world the first aircraft carrier, HMS Argus in 1918, and a century later, in 2018, the world's first 5th generation aircraft carrier in HMS Queen Elizabeth. In 1915 the RN developed the world's first anti-submarine sonar known as ASDIC - the Admiralty Submarine Detection Investigation Committee. The Navy developed the world's first carrier "ski-jump" for Harrier aircraft in 1973. The RN pioneered the world's modern submarine periscope in 1902. The first practical radar system was developed in 1935.

In 1866 the RN pioneered the world's first torpedo. Most proudly the UK become the USA's first Tier 1 Partner nation in the development of the world's first 5th generation F-35B aircraft serving this year aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth. We are proud and honoured to provide the Royal Navy with the world's first portable Portalevel ultrasonic liquid level indicators used to contents monitor their pressurised Halon systems in the 1990's and to support the Royal Navy today.

CEO Joins the UK-US SME Dialogue in New York - Nov 2018

Our CEO joined the US Commerce Department and Her Majesty's Trade Commissioner, the fine team of the British Consulate General, the UK Department for International Trade, Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, Department for Digital, Media & Sport in New York. The Dialogue is a joint USA-UK Government initiative to generate further business between our countries who are each other's No 1 investment partners.

Distributor Spotlight: Unidet, Italy – November 2018

Italian customers benefit from local expertise and support throughout the country. In Genoa our Strategic Partner Alberto Faravelli leads the network. For the past 5 years we have strengthened our relationship with Unidet, our distributor based in Milan: Unidet Anticendi SRL.

Gladys Casini Co-Owns Anticendi Unidet with her husband Massimo Zanon: “Antincendi Unidet turned more of 40 years of engagement in the field of fire prevention. We devote lots of resources to studies and research, in order to offer the highest quality products, by investing in certifications and specialized counselling”

Clare Hunter, Head of Marketing & Communications, Coltraco Ultrasonics: “It is a pleasure to work with Gladys, Massimo, Omar and all the team who promote our range to their customers throughout Italy. Predominantly in the fire safety sector, Unidet focus on Portalevel® sales for inspecting fixed fire suppression systems.”

Maritime Nations Forum, New York – October 2018

Our CEO was proud to attend the UK-US Maritime Nations Forum Last week in New York, hosted on board the HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft.The visit signified a renewed commitment from the UK maritime sector, to future US-UK Trade relations.

VIDEO: Watch our CEO at UK-US Maritime Nations Forum

[2:19-2:41] HMS Queen Elizabeth, New York

Feedback – Portalevel® Mini Cuts Cost for USA Company – October 2018

We are delighted and grateful for the feedback we have received this week from one our USA customers about their Portalevel® MINI:

“We are satisfied with the equipment and it’s operation, it has been well received by the techs and has cut costs for us and our customers.”

Customer Photos of 15+ Year Old Units – 24th October 2018

Coltraco Ultrasonics are delighted to share the below images of 15+ years old units, sent in by customers.

GNW Instrumentation kindly shared an image with Coltraco of their original Portagauge® ultrasonic thickness gauge.

Petrofrac recently sent in their Portalevel for calibration, which is still in operation, after over 15 years. Their Portalevel is used to train fire servicing teams in Aberdeen, before the teams begin working offshore in the North Sea.

Coltraco are proud to offer customer support for the lifetime of the equipment.

CEO Statement: UK-US Maritime Nations Forum

Our CEO, who is attending the UK-US Maritime Nations Forum in New York, on board HMS Queen Elizabeth, is quoted:

“The USA and UK created the rules-based order. In today’s complex world our shared and essential values will shape tomorrow’s modern world too.”

Dr Fox will join Maritime UK to host the first Maritime Nations Forum between the UK and US, focused on strengthening maritime trade and relations between the 2 countries.

International Trade Secretary, Dr Liam Fox MP, said: “The United States is one of our closest allies, our largest single bilateral trading partner and we will see that bond continue to strengthen as we leave the European Union.”

Shortlisted at the Safety At Sea Awards – October 2018

Our Director of Sales was delighted to attend the IHS Markit Safety at Sea Awards on 18th October, 2018. Coltraco Ultrasonics were shortlisted for Best Safety Product (hardware).

The awards were attended by the IMO Secretary General (pictured below) and Transport Minister Nusrat Ghani MP, who supports empowering women in maritime.

Image courtesy of @nnsavvides.

CEO becomes CommonwealthFirst (CWF) Business Mentor

Part of the Commonwealth Enterprise & Investment Council

Director of Sales at Interferry Conference, Cancun – October 2018

Our Director of Sales, George Hunter, is pictured below at the 43rd Annual Interferry Conference below, on the Fire Safety Panel.

He was delighted to speak at our first Interferry Conference on the subject of enhancing onboard fire protection safety measures in the unique ferry environment. Whilst often carrying a wide variety of cargo, vehicles, passengers and often with advanced vessel design, the Ferry market has a particular attention on such subjects.

It was a particular pleasure for George to meet the incredibly hospitable Interferry family and Coltraco look forward to attending next year.

Feedback from Customer – 17 October 2018

We are pleased to share feedback from one of our customers:

“For the years I have worked with Gaseous Suppression systems, I have found it , like many others it frustration when thousands of dollars is spent on the installation of these systems, but the service Technician has a daunting task trying to determine weights and or liquid levels due to the lack of foresight of those installing the system to provide a safe means of gathering this required information.

This device (the Portalevel® MAX), appears to provide a fast and efficient way of carrying out this task preventing the possibility of an unsafe act or worse still an incorrect or false listing of weights and measures.”

What is the unit? The Portalevel® MAX ultrasonic liquid level indicators.

BETTER – most accurate unit on the market, +/- 1.5mm

FASTER - combined with the MAX, the Portasteele® CALCULATOR is an advanced app, that converts the liquid level of C02, NOVEC™ 1230 and FM-200® into the agent weight/mass

Finalist - Young Exporter Award – 15 October 2018

We are delighted that our Director of Sales is a finalist in the GTR-BExA Young Exporter of the Year Award.

George Hunter is committed to developing export business in advance and emerging market countries, predominantly in sales, but also in research and development, product design and manufacturing, getting projects underway and providing excellent customer service.

The panel stated that “Trading across borders is clearly in George’s blood and the passion and energy he demonstrated towards his work is the essence of a truly pioneering exporter.”

Geoff de Mowbray, Co-Chairmen of BExA and one of the Award judges commented “Having met with these remarkable young people – all of whom are winners in their own right – I’m pleased to report that the spirit of UK exports is well and truly alive!”

Within just 4 days of the first F-35B deck landing, night flying is conducted. A result of years of preparation and extraordinary confidence in the aircraft and ship. Our CEO is honoured to be visiting the ship shortly.

CEO with the PM Trade Envoy Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne

At the BP stand, Birmingham

CEO supporting Amar Foundation

Charity "rebuilding lives" in Middle East.

Coltraco’s 8th Award in 1 year:

Security & Fire Excellence Awards 2018 Finalist

Fire Door Inspection Scheme invites Coltraco’s R&D Manager to speak

Supporting Maritime UK at Skills NorthEast 26 September 2018

Our Marketing & Communications Assistant, Chloe Kat was delighted to support Maritime UK with their stand at the Skills NorthEast event in Newcastle Upon Tyne. SkillsEngland are a series of national careers events that are aimed at promoting careers and training to 14-19 years old.

Maritime UK had a fantastic stand promoting careers at sea and women in maritime. The event was a fantastic opportunity to explore the variety of careers at sea with young people.

WATCH UKGov’s GREAT campaign 7th birthday

Interferry have invited Coltraco Ultrasonics’ Director of Sales, Mr George Hunter, to speak at their 43rd Annual Interferry Conference in Cancun, Mexico 6-10th October 2018. This year’s theme is “Safety, Security & Environment”. George will be talking twice on 8th October: Day 1 Session 7 about “Testing Firefighting Systems” in the Technology & Training session and Session 8 in the “Fire Safety Panel”.

ODA Service Centre for Indian Navy in Mumbai

During Maritime UK Week, the trade organisations Maritime UK and India Maritime Association (UK) arranged a joint Autumn Seminar& Reception at the UK Chamber of Shipping’s offices in London on 13th September 2018. The event discussed: “UK-India Trade: what does the future look like?”

There were 5 speakers, including Mr Carl Hunter, CEO of Coltraco Ultrasonics who spoke of UK-India’s 500 year partnership. He spoke specifically of exporting to India and trading success stories. Finally he spoke about how UK Government can help UK companies work better in India and the future opportunities.

Mr Hunter would like to extend his thanks to the Maritime UK for hosting this together with Indian Maritime Association (UK). Also thanks to the UK Chamber of Shipping especially CEO Mr Sanguinetti at whose offices the event was held. Final thanks to Gard, especially Ms Kohli who assisting in organising.

This event follows the UK-India maritime forum held earlier this year in May 2018 which Mr Hunter also spoke at: click here for details:

To read the full transcript of Mr Hunter’s speech below, as written before the event but not necessarily precisely as delivered, please email his PA, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.:

Improving UK-Turkey trade relations

It was our CEO's pleasure to hear the fine speech of the secretary of State for International Trade.

CEO honoured to become Professor in Practice

By the Vice-Chancellor of Durham University at the prestigious Durham University Business School. With effect from October 2018.

Signed Women in Maritime Pledge – 10 Sept 2018

Coltraco Ultrasonics are proud to be one of the 60 companies who are Women In Maritime Pledge signatories & also engaged in the Women in Maritime Taskforce. The pledge is: "We are committed to building an employment culture that actively supports and celebrates gender diversity, at all levels, throughout our organisation, and our industry"

With thanks to MaritimeUK for championing this drive. Appreciation also goes to the Department for Transport for leading the mission, as well as support from the Department for International Trade. DISCOVER MORE

CEO gives evidence to Bribery Act 2010 Committee

UK Parliament, House of Lords Committee -04 Sept 2018

We are delighted to welcome Daniel Dobrowolski into the Coltraco Ultrasonics team today.

In the last year we have had the pleasure of getting to know Daniel and respect his work in a part-time capacity. Now Daniel will develop his role in the Research & Development department, focussing on the mathematics behind our technologies. He will also explore the relationship between business and politics and how business can support Her Majesty’s Government.

Daniel is a Research & Development Assistant with a Master's in Theoretical Physics from Durham (First Class Hons). Background in programming, management, politics, scientific research and cybersecurity. Daniel: "Having worked for Coltraco part-time during the completion of my master’s degree, I have developed a thorough appreciation for the company, both for its warm family-like community and its strategic approach of integrating the most preeminent academic research in physics with global business. Working for Coltraco, I hope to learn from the vast wealth of experience that those in the company and in the industry hold and to better understand my aspirations for the future. Ultimately, I am interested in a number of areas, namely, technology, business and politics (for example, I have recently written a paper on cybersecurity and information warfare which shall be published at a later date)."

Exhibiting at SMM marine expo, Hamburg

Director of Sales with AMI Marine

Integrity at our core: Anti-Bribery Policy – 2018

Aligned with the UK’s Bribery Act 2010

Awards – What a Year

We thank you our customers, distributors, service partners and strategic partners. Exporting makes us “better, faster, cheaper” on all scientific, technical, commercial and logistic levels. And we export 89% of our manufactured output to you, our customers and friends, to 109 countries. In appreciation to you, we share the following with you.

VIDEO: UKGov DIT Trade Minister on “impressive” export performance

UKGov International Trade Dept. launches ambitious Export Strategy

Secretary of State Liam Fox’s aims to increase exports to 35% of UK GDP

Women in Maritime

The UK are leading the mission with a Taskforce and the second ever Maritime Minister Nusrat Ghani MP

Now is the time to improve our fire safety and take our expertise worldwide.

Learn more in this presentation about Advanced Fire Technology:

RINA welcomes CEO to the Board of Trustees

Coltraco Ultrasonics Chief Executive, Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter, has been welcomed onto the Board of Trustees at The Royal Institution of Naval Architects (RINA), an internationally renowned professional institute at the heart of surface and sub-surface ship design. Formed in 1860 and established by Royal Warrant RINA occupies a central and essential role at the heart of British and global maritime with 70% overseas members and Consultative Status at the International Maritime Organisation.

Commenting on the appointment, RINA Chief Executive, Trevor Blakeley says, “The Royal Institution of Naval Architects is very pleased to welcome Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter as a member of its Board of Trustees. Carl brings a wealth of experience in the maritime community. Such experience, together with his commitment to the Institution, will be invaluable in the governance of the Institution and in developing its standing as an international professional institution, responsive to the changing needs of the global maritime industry. Carl is a prime example of the adage, ‘If you want something doing well, give it to a busy man’. The Institution is grateful for his time.”

Coltraco Ultrasonics’ CEO, Carl S P Hunter, Fellow of RINA and of IMarEST and Associate Fellow of the Nautical Institute is also a Council Member for the Maritime & Defence Security Group, the British Marine Equipment Association, Member of the Honourable Company of Master Mariners and a Council Member for the Europe Technical Committee, American Bureau for Shipping (ABS) says: "I am delighted to join the Board of Trustees of the Royal Institution of Naval architects. RINA is at the heart of who we are as a maritime nation. It began as a learned society in London in 1860 and was soon established under Royal Warrant. Today 70% of its members are from overseas. I warmly welcome the opportunity to support the Board and President and the continued growth of RINA under the able leadership of its Chief Executive, Mr Trevor Blakeley. This is the maritime century and RINA will continue to play its essential role at the very centre of ship design and construction."

Permalevel™ Constant Monitoring of Gaseous Extinguishing System

Our new 24/7 constant monitoring system installation in Asia, Permalevel™ Multiplex. We generate global-leading science, design and engineering to constantly monitor the contents high pressure liquefied gaseous systems at mission critical infrastructure against the risk of accidental discharge or leakage. So that when the design concentration is requited, customers can be certain they have the system contents to deliver it.

CEO Carl Hunter had the privilege of being invited to speak at the inaugural UK Fire Seminar “After Grenfell”. Held at the RAF Club in London, particularly poignant given the 100 year anniversary of the force, on 17th July 2018.

Carl said that “audience was very engaged” in listening to him speak about “Advanced Technology” (see presentation) which he supplemented a broader strategic discussion about:

Understanding UK distinguishing values

UK Government having more than enough bandwidth to deal not only with EU Exit but creating strategy statements by multiple departments

The role of integrity and excellence in UK science

The benefits of exporting

The integrity of fire engineering in ISO standards

The opportunities for British standards on EU exit with regard to exporting and global standing,

Grenfell lessons to learn

Global Britain the British dream

Carl has over 25 years’ experience in the fire safety industry. He is a member of leading bodies in the UK:

Worshipful Company of Firefighters

Strategic Steering Group of Joint International Fire Board (JIFB)

All Party Parliamentary Fire Rescue Services Group (APPFRSG)

Active members in the UK: Export Council and the Suppressant gases Working Group at the Fire Industry Association (FIA), Fire Protection Association (FPA) and Fire Sector Federation (FSF)

Also members of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), Fire Suppression Systems Association (FSSA) and National Association of Fire Equipment Distributors (NAFED) in the USA as well as the Rail Industry Fire Association (RIFA) and Tall Building Fire Safety Network (TBSFN)

Carl’s company was awarded the “Innovation of the Year for Fire”, as well as Safety Initiative Award Finalist

Regularly published in leading fire publications worldwide

With thanks to Neil Wallington who organised the event and also has many accolades in the fire industry:

NEW LAUNCH: Portacare® Total Care Package – 19 July 2018

Choose Portacare® to support your Coltraco® products with fixed costs of maintenance for 5 years, exclusive discounts and priority assistance. Click here to learn more about the 4 key benefits for you:

“At the crossroads: Britain and global trade” speech by SoS for International Trade

Speech delivered by Liam Fox, Secretary of State for International Trade, on future UK trading arrangements, in partnership with the Federation of Small Businesses.

Minister of Shipping Update on UK’s Maritime 2050

The United Kingdom is developing its 30 year strategy for the UK Maritime. Our CEO was honoured to hear Minister Nusrat Ghani speak in the House of Commons today with industry professionals from the British Maritime sector. We strongly support the Department for Transport in this.

New members of Vietnam-UK Network - 16 July 2018

We are delighted to announce that Coltraco Ultrasonics have joined the Vietnam-UK Network.

Coltraco Ultrasonics has experience of working in Vietnam for over 10 years.

This year we hope to strengthen our connection with our Vietnamese customers and network.

Supporting All-Party Parliamentary Group on the 4th Industrial Revolution

Today our CEO heard The Rt Hon Philip Hammond MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer speak strongly about the UK’s commitment to 2.4% of GDP on R&D and the UK being a global hub for technology development in autonomy, artificial intelligence and low emissions.

Celebrating the UK-US SME Dialogue

As part of our enduring 70 year Special Relationship

Coming Soon…

Our CEO Appointed to RINA Board of Trustees

RINA was established in 1860 as a learned society. Today the Royal Institution of Naval Architects is at the heart of surface and sub-surface ship design which is a key UK maritime capability and exported globally.

CEO Speaking at the RAF Club

At Lancaster House for DIT's Summer Reception - July 2018

Our CEO attended the Summer Reception of the Department of International Trade at Lancaster House. We warmly commend the fine work of Baroness Fairhead, Minister for Trade, Baroness Nicholson Prime Ministerial Trade Envoy, Mr Toby Orr, Director of Communications, DIT Events Team and the fine speech of Mr Crawford Falconer, Chief Trade Negotiation Adviser and Second Permanent Secretary.

Celebrating 300 Years of The Royal Hospital Chelsea

Our CEO is most grateful to Sir Ken Knight for his public service and we congratulate the Royal Hospital Chelsea for the support to those who have served.

DFID-DIT - Business Integrity Initiative

Our CEO is an industry panel member. We are proud to support this cross-Departmental initiative to support UK exporters.

CEO speaks at London Leaders Exporting Workshop

On the topic of “Time to Develop New Markets”

Exhibiting at Firex, London – June 2018

Carl, George, Clare and Chloe had a successful and enjoyable week exhibiting at Firex - a world leading fire and security exhibition and conference, 19-21 June 2018. The exhibition was held at the Excel Centre in London. They were delighted to meet with customers and partners new and old.

CEO at the Foreign Office for Amar Foundation

Our CEO was honoured to join Baroness Emma Nicholson and her leadership team in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Amar Foundation and IBBC at dinner held in the Locarno Rooms of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office.

CEO attends US Ambassador’s Reception in London.

Our CEO was honoured to attend the US Ambassador’s Residence in London to celebrate the 242nd year of Independence of the USA and the creation of the Special Relationship between our countries ever since. We wish to thank Ambassador Woody Johnson and his fine team at the US Embassy in London.

Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Royal Air Force.

It is 100 years since the RAF was formed and 25 years since we started working with RAF Swanton Morley in the first installation of our equipment to monitor CO2 contents in the RAF’s Aircraft Engine Test facilities. The first F-35B Lightning’s have begun to arrive in the UK. The United Kingdom is the USA’s only Tier 1 partner on the F-35 programme. The world’s largest aircraft programme and the world’s most advanced fighter strike aircraft.

CEO attending Westminster Civic Service – July 2018

Our CEO and Dorothy joined the Lord Mayor and Councillors of Westminster at a service and reception at Westminster Abbey.

We warmly support the work in Government to explore how greater exporting and innovation can be achieved for UK business.

Exhibiting at NFPA fire safety show, Las Vegas 11-14 June 2018

Coltraco Ultrasonics enjoyed a very successful show at NFPA - a world leading fire and security exhibition and conference in Las Vegas, USA 11-14 June 2018. Clare Hunter, Head of Marketing & Communications and Karen Jones, Sr Sales Manager enjoyed a trip to the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam before 3 busy days meeting customers and partners new and old.

Carl has over 25 years experience in the fire safety industry. He is honoured to be a member of the Worshipful Company of Firefighters. He has recently been invited to the Strategic Steering Group of the Joint International Fire Board (JIFB). He is on the Export Council and the Suppressant gases Working Group at the Fire Industry Association (FIA). He is active in the Fire Protection Association (FPA), engaged with the All Party Parliamentary Fire Rescue Services Group (APPFRSG) as well as the Fire Sector Federation (FSF). Also members of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), Fire Suppression Systems Association (FSSA) and National Association of Fire Equipment Distributors (NAFED) in the USA as well as the Rail Industry Fire Association (RIFA) and Tall Building Fire Safety Network (TBSFN). Carl was awarded the “Innovation of the Year for Fire”, as well as Safety Initiative Award Finalist. He is regularly published in leading fire publications worldwide.

Contact Carl via his PA Mary Connie: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

IHS Markit “Safety at Sea” Award Finalist Coltraco Ultrasonics

IHS Markit “Safety at Sea” have today, Friday 08 June 2018, announced this year’s Award Finalists: Coltraco Ultrasonics. Coltraco Ultrasonics have been shortlisted for “The Best Safety Product of the Year (hardware)” for their FLEETSAFE package.

When asked, Coltraco Ultrasonics’ CEO, Mr Hunter, was “delighted and honoured” and thanks the Safety at Sea publication team and the judges for “recognising our Safeship® mission: our commitment to the provision of safety for crew, asset and vessel at sea.”

The Awards Ceremony is taking place on Thursday 18th October at Le’ Meridien, Mayfair.

The nomination is for Coltraco Ultrasonics’ FLEETSAFE package, supported by their Safeship® initative. This is a mariner’s package of innovative safety tools to go above and beyond minimal compliance with regulations to create a safer ship:

With this package the hatch-covers, doors, MCTs, compartments, pipework, hulls, bulkheads, rotating machinery, pumps, sprinkler systems and gaseous extinguishing installations are protected. The package is based on integrity - from design focusing on accuracy, reliability and ease of use, through to Coltraco’s Customer Care Commitment of life-time support.

The Safeship® initiative promotes protecting people, cargo and vessel at sea. This is a call to respond to regulations with a rigorous attitude, to go above and beyond, to provide security of life and infrastructure.

Keen to learn more about the Safeship® Initative? This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Marketing & Communications Assistant.

Middle East Director, Capt Peter Machado says: “The halls are buzzing with visitors. Investment in the exhibition by suppliers, manufacturers and Govt Orgs is substantial. The Greeks are proud and happy they are now the world’s leading ship owners in both in number of ships and tonnage quantity.”

With thanks to both Timos and Peter from London for their dynamism in spreading the word about Coltraco Ultrasonics.

With thanks to our expert General Manager, David Cao, for promoting Coltraco Ultrasonics’ world-leading fire safety technology at this conference.

CEO at Sailors’ Society Westminster Reception

A host of industry representatives, MPs and members of the House of Lords joined international maritime charity Sailors’ Society to mark its 200 years of supporting seafarers and their families around the world, at a reception held in Parliament last week (6 June).

Carl is particularly committed to the Sailors’ Society whose mission is “Transforming seafarers' lives at home, in port and at sea." About the Sailors’ Society’s emphasis on seafarer welfare, Carl says: “No bigger issue faces us today. However, the “wellbeing” of mariners is only going to touch some. We need to influence UKGov to ensure the de-commoditisation of seafarers and the eradication of modern slavery practices in the maritime environment.”

Penny Mordaunt MP said, “It was great to hear about the care and support Sailors’ Society has provided to seafarers in need over the past 200 years, such as working to help seafarers look after their mental health during the long contracts at sea and supporting their families back at home in times of crisis.”

Attending Buckingham Palace Summer Garden Party

A week in the life of a CEO in 10 events

This week is exceptionally special for our CEO Carl Hunter. See below 10 key events he is delighted and honoured to have been invited to:

Monday: full steam ahead with Maritime 2050: Trade Workshop at the Oval cricket ground, later meeting the Director for Women2Win

Tuesday: sees in the day at the Chelsea Royal Hospital for the Governor’s Review of the Pensioners to an afternoon honoured by a garden party at Buckingham Palace

Wednesday: festivities continue with the Sailor Society's 200th Anniversary Reception, meeting fellow CEO from leading shipping company Bibby Line, concluding with the British Expertise International Reception at the House of Lords

UKABC Summer Reception 2018

UKABC remarked: We were delighted that both DIT and FCO Ministers - Baroness Rona Fairhead and Rt Hon Mark Field MP were able to join us. In Baroness Fairhead’s remarks, it was great to hear the Minister underline the UK government’s commitment to ASEAN - "Let there be no doubt that ASEAN really matters to this government".

New members of The British Exporters Association (BExA)

Mary Delivering the CEO’s Address in Milan May 2018

Never Beaten On Price Guarantee

Portalevel® in the Arctic

Our long standing customer in Canada using our equipment in Baffin Island in the high Arctic North of Canada.

CEO invited to join The Joint International Fire Board (JIFB), Strategic Steering Group

CEO of Coltraco Ultrasonics, Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter, is joining The Joint International Fire Board (JIFB), Strategic Steering Group. The JIFB develop the ‘UK Fire and Resilience Offer’ which promotes the UK fire capability, working with the Department of International Trade. The JIFB work towards greater visibility of the UK fire offering globally, providing more business opportunities to all.

Fire Australia – Coltraco’s distributor exhibits Portalevel® MINI

Portalevel® MINI is designed for hands free operation. With the ability to service a cylinder in just 60 seconds and accurate to 1.5mm, the Portalevel® MINI is ideal for fire suppression system servicing.
Discover it: here

Miss Mary Connie speaking at Future Aluminium Forum, Milan about fire safety risks and how Industry 4.0 can help – 08 May 2018

Coltraco Ultrasonics were honoured to be invited to speak at The Future Aluminium Forum on the topic of: “Trend of Automation and Data Exchange in Manufacturing Technologies” during Session Three - Plant Security and Safety: Chair - Alexeis Garcia-Perez, Reader in Cyber Security Management at the Centre of Business in Society of Coventry University (UK)

Miss Mary Connie said it “provided a brilliant insight into how the aluminium industry is cohesively working together, to start making the future, the today. By 2020 the IoT will connect 30 billion objects and it is clear that those within the aluminium sector are urgently seeking change to occur amongst the attitudes of its personnel to form this integral connection between machines and people.”

With thanks Nadine Bloxsome and her team at ‘Aluminium International Today’ for this fantastic event and for recognising our expertise in the monitoring of fire suppression systems and room integrity in these safety critical facilities.

Read an article about fire safety in aluminium: here Learn about the Future Aluminium Forum:here

CEO attends UK Trade and Export Finance Forum – 09 May 2018

Our CEO Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter joined 400 representatives of UK business and finance at the British Government’s first UK Trade and Export Finance Forum in Westminster today. The Secretary of State for International Trade, The Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MP, opened the Forum, which was jointly hosted by UK Export Finance (UKEF) and the Department for International Trade (DIT). In UKEF, British exporters and UK partner countries overseas, have a world-class export credit capability. Baroness Fairhead, Minister of State for Trade and Export Promotion, addressed UK exporting aims and the forthcoming Governments Export Strategy. Also speaking were Ms Antonia Romeo, Permanent Secretary of the Department for International Trade, Mr Louis Taylor, CEO of UK Export Finance and Baroness Emma Nicholson, Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy.

This committee was discussing the issues related to Life Safety Appliances and Fire. More details and minutes are not yet made public.

Here are just a few of the key points Coltraco Ultrasonics have been calling the industry to respond to in recent years:

Education – this is vital for all levels of industry from leading safety managers in the Owners and Operators

Valves – typical CO2 cylinders use cheap valves which may lead to leaking and discharging of CO2

Cylinder Servicing – there is a lack of understanding in the industry about why,when and how the fire suppression system cylinders require servicing in order to ensure there has been no leak or discharge

Pipework – there needs to be new technology to inspect pipework for thickness, corrosion, leaks and obstructions

Crew – more value needs to be placed on crew which should lead to improved training about servicing fire suppression systems: not only how to actuate a fire system in the event of fire, but to understand more of the engineering behind the systems and the methods for inspecting system integrity, crucially identifying contents loss of CO2, clean agents and the other liquefied gaseous agents used

Further these discussions with Miss Hunter: here This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

CEO speaks at Maritime UK India Opportunities Forum - with UK Indian Business Council, London – 2nd May 2018

Coltraco Ultrasonics’ CEO Mr Carl Hunter was honoured to be invited to speak at the Maritime UK “India Opportunities Forum” with the UK Indian Business Council at the UK Chamber of Shipping’s HQ in London on 2nd May 2018.

“Maritime UK is working with the Department for International Trade and the UK-India Business Council to organise a Forum to increase awareness of the numerous Indian maritime opportunities to British companies.”

Annual RINA Dinner in London – April 2018

With great pleasure our CEO and Head of Marketing attended the annual dinner of The Royal Institution of Naval Architects. We wish to thank and congratulate the Chief Executive of RINA and friend, Mr Trevor Blakeley FRINA FIMareST CEng for his award.

Committed to Singapore & Award Finalist

Director of Sales in Singapore all week for Seatrade Maritime Asia Awards

Friday Feedback – Coltraco Customer Care is critical to our company

“NEWS: Best of British showcased to Commonwealth – CHOGM 2018, London”

Photo shows The Duke of Cambridge with the Rt Hon Dr. Liam Fox MP and DIT Permanent Secretary Antonia Romeo going to the “Welcome to the UK Reception”. 1500 guests were invited from the 53 Commonwealth countries to see the best of British expertise, innovation and creativity.

International Trade Secretary said: “As an international economic department, we will continue to promote business and trade with all Commonwealth members driving prosperity both at home and abroad.”

SHE Awards choose Coltraco Ultrasonics as winners of “Fire Innovation of the Year” Award for the Portasteele® CALCULATOR.

Coltraco Ultrasonics are delighted and humbled to announce that they were chosen by the judges from amongst a group of fellow leading fire industry players with top calibre technology.

CEO, Carl Hunter, and Head of Marketing & Communications, Clare Hunter, attended theprestigious awards ceremony which took place at a gala dinner hosted by comedian Rory Bremner at the VOX, NEC Birmingham, UK. Carl said in an interview after winning that he is honoured that our Research & Development into the innovative Portasteele® is being recognised for delivering enhanced safety to people, assets and infrastructure.

Coltraco Ultrasonics would like to thank Mark Sennett and Keith Gabriel of Western Business Exhibitions.

Find out why Coltraco Ultrasonics won below:

Traditionally cylinders are manually weighed by turning off and dismantling each one, which may be risky and takes on average two people 15 minutes per cylinder.

To solve this problem, Coltraco Ultrasonics developed the innovative 8th generation Portalevel® MAX: handheld ultrasonic liquid level indicator to inspect CO2, clean agents and more liquefied gaseous agents, by one person in just 30 seconds. Combined with the Portasteele® CALCULATOR these liquid level heights are converted into the weight of agent. This tablet based advanced calculator application is the first in the world to provide agent weight readings without physically weighing the cylinders to comply with regulations.

It is the first level indication method to take account of the temperature affect on the agent height. PortasteeleÒ CALCULATOR provides instant real-time results which can be recorded then emailed directly for datalogged audit trail. By replacing the use of manual calculation and formulae, Portasteele® CALCULATOR makes the whole process of fire suppression system servicing simple and effective.

This is a safer, more efficient and cost saving method to service fire cylinders. The technological innovation ensures an entirely user friendly and industry leading device.

Talk to the team to discover the benefits & pricing of Portasteele® CALCULATOR This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

CEO & Head of Marketing at Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting - 16th April 2018

We are honoured to be attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London this week. Today the Prime Minister, the Secretary of State, Department for International Trade, Australia's Minister for Foreign Affairs, and the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation addressed the conference. The Commonwealth brings together 53 nations with its shared values, language and law.

The Prime Minister said, "With its unique scope and global voice, such a Commonwealth can set a powerful example to the world, one that demonstrates and underlines the importance of protecting free trade and the rules-based international order."

The Secretary of State said, "We will also provide dedicated trade advisors to increase the meaningful participation of Commonwealth Small States in international trade and facilitate their integration into the multilateral trading system."

Department of International Trade, Saudi Aramco Energy Forum

Our Head of Marketing & Communications, Miss Clare Hunter, is at the Department for International Trade Saudi Aramco Energy Forum today.

Coltraco Ultrasonics’ CEO Mr Carl Hunter was invited to speak at the CIMR Industrial Strategy Workshop at Birkbeck College, University of London on 23rd March 2018.

Mr Hunter’s presentation was about “Exporting and Innovation are GREAT – you can be too”: aiming to explain the UKGov’s Industrial Strategy which inspired the DIT’s Export Strategy and how companies across the UK should feel encouraged to export too.

“I have every confidence that greater UK prosperity will derive from greater exporting and that the source for this growth exists within the SME sector.”

“Whilst the SME is a challenging part of our economy to lead, I am confident its business leaders will respond well if part of an exciting national endeavour.”

Feedback from Ms Yossie Olaleye, Communications Coordinator for Birkbeck Business College @yossieBBK on Twitter:

Ask for the presentation here: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

DIT Export Strategy

As a lead exporter in our capabilities we warmly support the formulation and implementation of the Export Strategy for the United Kingdom.

MAB Group – Our Fire Partners in Pakistan – March 2018

With our commitment to the Anglo-Pakistan relationship and our sincere appreciation to Captain Syed and Mr Salman.

Head of Marketing joins DIT Trade Mission to Brazil

Joining the Department of International Trade’s Exporting is GREAT Campaign with the Society of Maritime Industries in the Energy Sector in Brazil. Clare spoke to the conference about our world-leading watertight integrity and fire system contents monitoring systems in use globally across Marine, the Offshore Energy and Renewables sectors. We are grateful to the British Consul-General, the DIT Team in Rio de Janeiro and the UK and Mr Tom Chant, Director SMI.

Ask to see the presentation delivered This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Commonwealth Day - 12 Mar 2018

CHOGM London 2018 on Twitter said: “On Commonwealth Day 53 independent countries come together to celebrate the vast diversity & strong unity of our Commonwealth with the aim of working together towards a common future.” We look forward to next month with the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London April 2018. During the week our CEO is attending the Business Leaders Forum and our Head of Marketing & Communications is attending the Women’s Forum.

Celebrating Commonwealth Day in London 12 March 2018

We are proud to be joining the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in April at a range of business forums.

Our submission for the Safety Initiative Award has been shortlisted as a finalist in the 11th Seatrade Maritime Awards Asia. The Awards are held on 25th April, Singapore

Why we are shortlisted for the Safety Initiative Award?

Coltraco Ultrasonics implemented the Safeship® initiative, to promote protecting critical infrastructure at sea. The two main causes of vessel loss are sinking and fire. A lack of proper servicing of watertight and weathertight seals can lead to deterioration which can endanger the ship, cargo and lives of the crew through flooding and the potential of capsizing. Secondly, bad industry practice is unacceptable when fire risk may have catastrophic results due to risk to life, downtime in operation due to ship safety and repair work and incalculable reputational damage. The crew, cargo and vessel must be protected whena at sea because it is it’s own fire brigade without accessibility to typical emergency services.

As a result, Coltraco designed the FLEETSAFE: a package of innovative safety tools to combat the above and comply with regulations

An ultrasonic watertight integrity tester

An ultrasonic thickness gauge

A bearing indicator

An ultrasonic liquid level indicator

A calculator which converts liquid level readings to weight.

With this package the hatch-covers, doors, MCTs, compartments, pipework, hulls, bulkheads, rotating machinery, pumps, sprinkler systems and gaseous extinguishing installations are protected. The package is based on integrity, from design, through to life-time support, and is accurate, reliable and easy to use for any crew members.

Want to discover the answers to these 3 questions?

2. The rationale behind developing the new safety initiative3. What the initiative has achieved in terms of improved safety and/or safety awareness 4. Demonstrate how the initiative will continue to work over the longer terms to improve safety

Get in touch with Chloe Kay, Marketing & Communications This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II celebrated the 70th anniversary of the United Nation’s International Maritime Organisation (IMO) which ensures the safety and efficiency of the global shipping industry at the IMO Headquarters in London on Tuesday 6th March 2018.

Accompanied by IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II unveiled a commemorative plaque and cut an anniversary cake. Her Majesty also met some of the guests attending the event, including representatives of IMO Member States, inter-governmental and international non-governmental organizations, and IMO Secretariat staff.

“We are celebrating 70 years of achievement, in which the truly vital industry of shipping has become safer, cleaner and greener, thanks to the work of IMO. We are also looking ahead to the exciting new challenges on the horizon,” said IMO Secretary-General Lim. “Billions of ordinary people, all over the world, rely on shipping every day of their lives – even if they don’t realise it or understand it. It is our role to ensure shipping can continue to make this vital contribution to global well-being,” Mr Lim added.

The Convention on the International Maritime Organization (IMO) was adopted on 6 March 1948 at the United Nations Maritime Conference held in Geneva, Switzerland. The convention entered into force 10 years later, on 17 March 1958, when the 21st State ratified the treaty. IMO’s first meeting was held in London on 6 January 1959, at Church House in central London.

Since then, 173 IMO Member States have pursued their mission to develop the global regulatory framework for international shipping. Today, IMO continues its work :

Coltraco Ultrasonics a Leading Exporter in the UK Maritime Sector

We are proud to e at the heart of the British marine sector in London and Governing Council members of the Maritime Defence & Security Group and the British Marine Equipment Association.

The Great Hatfield-Castle Reconciliation – Durham - Feb 2018

The Vice Chancellor and Dean of Durham University and Durham Cathedral kindly invited our CEO to join HRH The Prince of Wales in Durham. We thank Mr Andrew Harston for the special opportunity for our CEO to cross the thresh-hold of University College for the frst time in 30 years.

DIT Secretary of State Speech, Tuesday 27 February 2018

Our CEO was honoured to hear the Secretary of State for International Trade speak powerfully at Bloomberg’s this week saying, “We are at a crossroads with a historic opportunity to help shape our global future for the better. We have a duty to grasp it.”

We express our appreciation to the Foreign Secretary, the Secretaries of State for International Trade and International Development and The Rt Hon Mark Field, Minister of State for their kind invitation to our CEO.

ABS EUROPE TECHNICAL COMMITTEE MEETING

It was a great honour for our CEO to attend the AMERICAN BUREAU OF SHIPPING (ABS) EUROPE TECHNICAL COMMITTEE MEETING in Rome on 23rd February 2018. ABS are one of very few Classification Societies in our industry to discuss its Rules with its Members.

IMO Regulations depend for their implementation by its member Flag States maritime administrations. In this for example the UK’s Flag State administrator, the Maritime & Coast Guard Agency and the transparent publication of incident reports by the UK Maritime Accident Investigation Branch show vital and global leadership. ABS, along with other major Classification Societies such as Lloyds Register and DNV-GL, if recognised by the Flag State Ships Register, such as the UK Ships Register, establish and maintain technical standards for the construction and operation of ships and offshore structures.

ABS may be very proud in their world-leading engagement with members and our CEO wishes to thank Mr Stefano Penco, ABS VP Engineering - ABS Europe, who kindly invited him to join the Committee.

The regulations pertaining to fixed gaseous suppression systems assume that the extinguishant (CO2, or clean agents such as FM-200®, Novec™1230, halons etc) leak or accidentally discharge due to being under high pressure in the cylinders.

The shortlist has been announced for the inaugural Safety & Health Excellence (SHE) Awards, which includes categories on fire safety and security and incorporates the long-standing British Safety Industry Federation (BSIF) Awards. The winners will be unveiled at a gala awards dinner on 11 April 2018, which will be hosted by comedian Rory Bremner at the prestigious VOX at Resorts World, NEC Birmingham.

Warmly Welcoming Mr Damian Varsallo to London

The bulk carrier has 7 cargo holds & side rolling cargo hatch covers. The cargo hatch covers were washed over by seawater. All hatch covers were opened when the vessel was at anchor to ensure the vessel was gas free after fumigation. When removing the cargo hatch covers it was found that cargo in holds 1,2,3,4 and 7 had been damaged by water. Most of the water-damaged cargo was below the middle cross joint of the hatch covers and below the aft hatch coaming’s corners. According to the Master there had not been any ventilation to the cargo holds during the voyage. The surveyor carried out an inspection and found the following hatch cover parts to be in poor condition: Hatch cover panels, Hatch coamings, Water drain channels, Non-return valves, Quick cleats & Rubber gaskets. Please go to our page

Committed to the Superyacht Sector – February 2018

The UK is a leading designer and builder of Superyachts. Coltraco are the leading provider of watertight integrity monitoring and clean agent fixed extinguishing system monitoring to the Superyacht sector in Europe, the USA, the Middle East and Asia. ABS & RINA Type Approved too.

Supporting ASEAN - February 2018

Our Head of Marketing and CEO joined the UK-ASEAN Business Council meeting in London where the High Commissioner of Singapore addressed an audience of business and British Governmental leaders. We are strongly committed to supporting UK-ASEAN business growth and warmly thank Mr Allen Lai.

Supporting the Bank of England

With great pleasure our CEO has become a SME Decision-Making Panel Member of the Bank of England joining senior executives from across industries and from around the country to collect information on business conditions.

Customer Feedback from Norway – Feb 2018

CEO at Durham University - 15 February 2018

Our CEO was honoured to join HRH The Prince of Wales, the Vice-Chancellor and leadership of Durham University at Durham Cathedral today. With appreciation to Andrew, Bruno, Andrea and Lauren of the wonderful Durham Development team.

CEO Attends Prime Minister’s Address – Feb 2018

CEO at Annual Dinner of UK Chamber of Shipping – 05 Feb 2018

Our CEO was proud to join the UK Chamber of Shipping Dinner and honoured that HRH The Duke of Cambridge kindly patronised this key London maritime event. Prince William spoke movingly of the essential national work of British Shipping, the Royal Navy and various UK maritime agencies. Our CEO is pictured with Ms Namrata Nadkarni, Executive Editor of Fairplay International Shipping.

Supporting Trade and Prosperity at DIT – Feb 2018

We warmly support DIT’s trade and prosperity objectives and wish to express our appreciation for their support to exporting by UK business.

Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London in April

We have travelled to and supported trade in our 52 Commonwealth partner countries for 25 years and we greatly look forward to welcoming the Commonwealth Heads of Government to London in April. Marlborough House is the home of the Commonwealth Secretariat in London.

Orders for our Safesite® range of fire system servicing solutions – available in the Firetest™ package have already been secured since the exhibition. One prospective customer indeed provided the following lovely feedback:

Coltraco would like to thank their media relationships with the following titles:

Fires in wind turbines, nuclear plants, ships… where next?

The risk of fire is prevalent across all safety critical and high value assets. People’s lives are endangered, infrastructure damaged and companies’ reputations decimated if the fire fighting systems do not extinguish the fire. A quick news round up of 3 fire incidences highlights the need for better maintenance, inspection and continuous monitoring of both the fixed fire extinguishing system and the room integrity.

1.Looking back to wind turbine fire in shadow of Saga nuclear plant, Japan

A wind turbine at the Kushizaki power plant in Karatsu, Saga Prefecture, is on fire with black smoke pouring out on the afternoon of Aug. 21. (Provided by Junji Ota)

A 60-meter-high wind turbine near a nuclear power plant in northern Kyushu, Japan caught fire on 21st August 2017, posing difficulties for fire-fighting efforts from the danger of falling parts.

A fire department spokesperson said firefighters were unable to shoot water at the flames due to the fear of falling debris.

An official of Tokyo-based JFE Engineering Corp. said the wind turbine is operated by one of its affiliated companies. JFE Engineering said the cause of the fire is under investigation.

The Kushizaki plant in the city’s Chinzeimachikushi district is located about 700 to 800 meters from the Kyushu Electric Power Co.'s Genkai nuclear power plant in Genkai in the same prefecture across the sea.

2.Ineffective Firefighting System and no Room Integrity results in evacuation and total loss of vessel

New Zealand's Transport Accident Investigation Commission has released its report into the tourist vessel PeeJay V which caught fire and sank because the main firefighting system was ineffective and staff did not fully understand how it should work.

On January 18, 2016, the PeeJay V was on an all-day excursion from Whakatāne out to White Island with 53 passengers and seven crew on board. The PeeJay V was near the end of the journey and approaching the Whakatāne Harbour entrance when fire broke out in the engine room.

The crew released the fixed CO2 fire extinguisher into the engine room, which suppressed the fire for a short time. However, the fire quickly escalated, forcing the skipper to order everyone to abandon the vessel. [sic] The PeeJay V burnt to the waterline and sank. One crew member suffered from smoke inhalation, but otherwise nobody else was seriously injured.[sic]

The Commission also found that the CO2 fire suppression system, which was supposed to work by displacing the air in the engine room with CO2, was not effective in suppressing the fire. This was because air was able to enter the engine room through several openings, including a cable duct that had no means of being closed.[sic]

Three main safety issues identified during the inquiry were:

Maritime Rules did not require the PeeJay V to have fire detection or automatic fire alarms installed even though it could carry up to 90 passengers and operate up to 12 nautical miles from the coast.

The CO2 fixed fire-fighting system installed in the engine room could not be fully effective in extinguishing the fire because the space it was protecting could not be fully closed down.

The builder and operators of the vessel did not fully appreciate the principles of how the CO2 fixed fire-fighting system operated.

Maritime rules did not require the PeeJay V to have fire detection or automatic fire alarms installed even though she could carry up to 90 passengers and operate up to 12 nautical miles from the coast. Maritime New Zealand has agreed to review the maritime rules about fire alarms and remote extinguishers in vessels of this type with enclosed engine spaces. It will also encourage people who design, install and use CO2 fixed fire-fighting systems to fully document and understand how these systems work.

Meeting Our Partners in Dubai at Intersec 2018

We export to 108 countries and our customers, distributors and Partners kindly visited us from across Asia, Europe and the Middle East. We thank you all.

Press coverage at Intersec for Safesite® mission – Jan 2018

Coltraco would like to thank their media relationships with the following titles who are dedicated to professional journalism in understand our Safesite® mission of improving fire safety through examining the fixed fire suppression systems and the room integrity into which they discharge:

Presenting Technical Paper at RINA Smart Ships 2018, London

Mr Adrian Saw, Research Manager at Coltraco Ultrasonics delivered a technical paper at the Royal Institution of Naval Architect (RINA) Smart Ships Conference on 24th January 2018 at the RINA HQ in London. The Paper is titled: “Riding the Wave of IoT: Strengthening Regulations, Improving Safety and Implementing the Safeship®”. Here is his review of the event:

“The RINA conference consist of a series of enjoyable technical presentations from academics and industry representatives around the recent developments of IoT and continuous monitoring applicable to the maritime industry. This well-coordinated event attracted some of the brightest minds with attendees from the UK, EU to as far as Japan and South Korea. The nature of the conference created an environment in which everyone was constantly learning from each other and absorbed new ideas to tackle the maritime industry’s most pressing challenges. Coltraco’s presentation was very well received – at the end of our presentation, RINA agreed and showed support to our call for current regulations to be improved and implemented fully that takes into account the recent technological developments in both monitoring and IoT technology.”

To download the presentation: please ask Adrian This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Identifying Clean Agent Weight from Liquid Level Readings – Jan 2018

After 3 years work Coltraco Ultrasonics have become the first company in the world to win certification of ISO/IEC 80079-34 Standards within ISO 9001:2008 certification to enable the manufacture of Portalevel™ Intrinsically Safe to Zone 1 Ex e ib standards for the monitoring of pressurised Clean Agent extinguishing system contents in accordance with ISO 14520 for Gas Carriers at sea and the Offshore Oil & Gas energy sector. Production for this product line will begin shortly.

CEO Written Evidence to the House of Commons – Jan 2018

It is with pleasure to report that our evidence to the House of Commons Defence Select Committee has been accepted at :

Coltraco Chairman Mr Eric Charlton Hunter Passes – 16 Dec 2017

It is with deep regret that we announce the peaceful passing of Mr Eric Charlton Hunter Chairman and inventor of the flagship product the Portalevel®, Saturday 16th December 2017 in Taunton, Somerset, in England on Saturday evening 16th of December 2017.

We are saddened to lose a most wonderful man, head of the family and the inspiration for starting the business 30 years ago. At the same time, we rejoice that he is now re-united with his beloved Wife. We pray for them both.

Mr. E. C. Hunter, a former Royal Navy Submariner spent 27 years with the Royal Navy and the Admiralty Research Laboratories specialising in sonar technologies. He began research and inventing the flagship product Portalevel™ - the world’s first portable ultrasonic liquid level indicator - in 1987 and starting the company in 1991 with his Son Mr Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter, our CEO. Together they developed a company committed to integrity, delivering safety on land and at sea and to valuing its people.

Following his retirement from the Royal Navy, Mr. E C Hunter worked in commercial shipping. His understanding of ultrasonic capabilities opened a wide world for this company and today we work in 109 countries exporting 89% of our products and systems. Today Portalevel™ has undergone 9 generations and is in operation worldwide across the Marine, Naval, Fire, Energy and multiple other industries including Wind Power.

He is succeeded in his roles by his Son and our Chief Executive Carl, who says, “My Father was my Father, my Friend, my inspiration and my privilege”.

Committed to support UKGov

CEO proud to reach 30 years' of membership at the Cavalry & Guards Club in London

"The Cavalry and Guards Club represents history, tradition, timeless elegance and quiet efficiency plus that all important personal touch." The Cavalry Club Committee was founded in April 1890, with the Guards founded in 1810; 1975 saw the two merge.

Customer Testimonial: Portascanner® WATERTIGHT – 08 Dec 2017

“We did some transit inspection work on one of our customers vessel using the Portascanner and we are very pleased with your instrument. We are looking forward extending our service offer using it. We had proper support from you and will stay aware of your product in the future to see new opportunities.”

Techsol Marine designs, builds, integrates, installs and supports state-of-the-art electrotechnological solutions for the marine industry. Over the years, Techsol Marine has gained a reputation as an established integrator of “Whole Ship Electrical Solutions”.

Learn more about how Coltraco can help you:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

London Fire Brigade Christmas Carols – 4th December 2017

Coltraco were honoured to attend the London Fire Brigade Carol Service on Monday at Westminster Cathedral in London. Prince Harry (pictured bottom right) also attended alongside leading members of the community including Dany Cotton (pictured bottom right) to support the fire services. With thanks to Tony Cash and his Wife who kindly invited the CEO and Head of Marketing to attend.

Coltraco were also delighted to be in the House of Commons for meetings discussing the maritime sector earlier in the day (CEO Carl Hunter pictured bottom left).

Coltraco Ultrasonics are delighted to be exhibiting at Marintec in Shanghai, China. With thanks to Coltraco’s General Manager in China, Mr David Cao, together with our Marine Strategic Partners, RMS Marine led by Ms Cindy Fan.

SMI’s Annual Dinner at the House of Commons – 24 Nov 2017

Coltraco’s CEO and Head of Marketing & Communications wish to thank the Society of Maritime Industries (SMI) for the fantastic annual dinner at the House of Commons on Friday 24th November.

Hosted by Mr Jim Fitzpatrick MP, with notable guests including Lord Mountevans, Mr Peter French, Vice Admiral Sir Alan Massey and many friends and colleagues from the British maritime industry and the many opportunities presented by the new National Shipbuilding Strategy and the UKGovernment’s support of the shipping industry thanks to DfT, DIT, DfID, BEIS.

With special thanks to Mr John Murray, SMI Chief Executive, Mr Tom Chant, SMI Director of Business Development and Mrs Clementina Upton, SMI Events Manager.

CEO a Member of the Honourable Company of Master Mariners, London – 24 Nov 2017

Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter, CEO Coltraco Ultrasonics, was honoured to be inducted to the Honourable Company of Master Mariners at their headquarters aboard HQS Wellington. This is the City of London’s oldest “modern” Livery Company and promotes and furthers the efficiency of the Sea Service generally and upholds the Status, Dignity and Prestige of Master Mariners in particular.

The conference touched upon the importance of UK exports by UKEF and the DIT and trade in the mining industry and the expertise of UK technology.

Coltraco are pleased to have learnt that the mining industry is headed in a positive trajectory after a 5 year low. We are proud to support fire safety in the mining industry and to export 89% to 108 countries.

The Association of British Mining Equipment has a history dating back almost 100 years. Its role as an Association is to provide a service to its members in order to help promote sales, growth and gather market intelligence.

Their machinery and services are utilised all over the world, meeting stringent environmental requirements and extreme climate challenges. British expertise in engineering is demonstrated with the high quality of workmanship coupled with excellent safety standards.

Head of Marketing & Communications thanks the fantastic team at Cammell Laird who kindly hosted the day and to SMI for organising it. Cammell Laird are exemplifying how the National Shipbuilding Strategy heralds an exciting time for the UK’s maritime industry.

Watch this time-lapse video of the building of RRS Sir David Attenborough thus far between Sept 2016-Sept 2017:

ALL VIDEO CREDIT TO CAMMELL LAIRD AND BRITISH ANTARCTIC SURVEY

Read more about these exciting developments in the LATEST OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE FROM CAMMELL LAIRD in extracts below and full details here:

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About the new polar research ship for Britain

The RRS Sir David Attenborough will be one of the most advanced polar research vessels in the world. From 2019 onwards scientists researching oceans, ice and atmosphere will have access to state-of-the-art facilities on this floating multidisciplinary research platform. The new polar ship is commissioned by NERC, built by Cammell Laird to a Rolls Roycedesign and operated by British Antarctic Survey. This new research platform will transform how ship-borne science is conducted in the Polar Regions. The commissioning of the RRS Sir David Attenborough is part of a major Government polar infrastructure investment programme designed to keep Britain at the forefront of world-leading research in Antarctica and the Arctic. This £200m commitment represents the UK Government‘s largest investment in polar science since the 1980s.

Cammell Laird is one of the most famous names in British industry with roots tracing back to the early 19th Century. The business is located on the River Mersey, in the Liverpool City Region, on the West Coast of England. It is in the centre of a marine cluster, with direct access to many support services. It has a 120 acre site with four dry docks, a non-tidal wet basin, large modular construction hall and extensive covered workshops. Cammell Laird specialises in military ship refit, commercial ship repair, upgrade and conversion and heavy fabrication and engineering. It deals with a wide variety of projects ranging from specialist offshore conversions and fabrication, commercial ship-repair through to the refit and upgrade of highly complex naval auxiliaries.

British Antarctic Survey(BAS), an institute of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), delivers and enables world-leading interdisciplinary research in the Polar Regions. Its skilled science and support staff based in Cambridge, Antarctica and the Arctic, work together to deliver research that uses the Polar Regions to advance our understanding of Earth as a sustainable planet. Through its extensive logistic capability and know-how BAS facilitates access for the British and international science community to the UK polar research operation. Numerous national and international collaborations, combined with an excellent infrastructure help sustain a world leading position for the UK in Antarctic affairs. For more information visit www.bas.ac.uk @basnews

Coltraco named one of “the best of British innovators"

@ Innovate Showcase UK 2017

Jonathan O’Neill, Managing Director of the Fire Protection Association among many other positions in the fire industry in the UK is awarded an OBE for his services to fire safety.

Coltraco Ultrasonics wish their hearty congratulations to Jon for such a well-deserved honour. And we feel privileged to work with him in the FPA, FSF and All Party Parliamentary Group for Fire Safety.

Our CEO is a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Scientific Instrument Makers – Nov 2017

The Worshipful Company of Scientific Instrument Makers (SIM) admitted two new Liverymen last month - Professor Pankaj Vagdama, Professor of Clinical Biochemistry at Queen Mary College, University of London and Dr Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter, CEO of Coltraco Ultrasonics, a British designer and manufacturer of portable and fixed monitoring systems for the naval, shipping, offshore, energy and fire sectors. SIM is a City of London livery company that works in science and engineering and supports young people in the furtherance of science. SIM also work with the National Physical Laboratory and UK Government Departments to ensure that measurement standards are maintained for all industries. Dr Hunter is soon to become a Freeman of the City of London in an 800 year old ceremony and dating from 1237.

INNOVATE 2017 in Birmingham – 8-9th Nov 2017

Coltraco awarded Innovate UK 2017 ! Adrian and Clare are demonstrating live the world’s first ultrasonic constant monitoring system for extinguishing gases - the Permalevel® MULTIPLEX to support the offshore energy, power generating and fire sectors. We are proud to have been chosen as a British innovator demonstrating the best of British technology and supporting Global Britain and showcasing our commitment to professional manufacturing, Government/Business relations, development of STEM at Universities and bringing young people into industry. We are proud to have one of the highest UK exporting profiles. Come and see us on Stand B802, Hall 6!

Coltraco is pleased to see the fight to end illegal wildlife trade being spearheaded by HRH Duke of Cambridge with United For Wildlife and UK Chamber of Shipping – 3 Nov 2017

As a member of the UK Chamber, Coltraco Ultrasonics are proud to see them working with the United For Wildlife association, of which the Duke of Cambridge is president, fighting to end the illegal wildlife trade.

Extracts from the official UK Chamber press release as follows:

Valued at up to $20 billion per year, the illegal trade of wildlife is the world's fourth most lucrative crime. The transport industry has stepped in to help end it.

The UK Chamber was among attendees at this week's meeting of the United For Wildlife Transport Taskforce at Lancaster House, continuing the group's work in ending the illicit trade of wildlife products.

The illegal trade is valued between $5-20 billion per year, making it the fourth most lucrative global crime after drugs, human trafficking and arms. Moreover, the trade fuels instability and criminality in demand and supply countries.

United For Wildlife, of which the Duke of Cambridge is president, last year formed its Transport Taskforce, which engages the transport industry to save protected species from illegal trade. It is chaired by former foreign secretary Lord William Hague.

Watch *LIVE* showcase of Permalevel® MULTIPLEX this week!

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Head of Marketing & Communications attends IMIF & Maritime London seminar on The ‘Effects of e-commerce on shipping’ – 6th Nov 2017

Coltraco’s Head of Marketing & Communications wishes to thank Olga and all those who organised this stimulating seminar which pivoted around the key question of whether digitalisation is an evolution or revolution for the shipping industry.

Official event information from Maritime London below.

Complimentary to the IMIF’s 42nd Annual Dinner, which is held this year in association with Maritime London, the seminar will focus on growing cooperation between e-commerce and logistics firms.

Referred to as ‘nothing short of revolutionary’ by a senior Maersk executive, which along with other major container shipping lines (CMA CGM and Evergreen) has teamed up with the Chinese online platform Alibaba to allow customers to reserve space on their vessels in early 2017. Almost simultaneously, BHP Billiton launched a new online auctioning platform, where shippers compete to transport the mining company’s commodities to its global customers, following the success of its first e-auction held in February this year.

What impact will this growing emphasis on technology have on the maritime services’ sector?

Source and showcase the world’s latest innovative solutions and technologies

Present, discuss and develop new project ideas at an international level

Forge winning partnerships for EU Research and Innovation funding

Exchange knowledge and know-how

Identify new commercial opportunities for global success

Coltraco Ultrasonics Export 89% of Output to 108 Countries

We support the @UKGov’s mission for #manufacturers in #Britain who #export #worldwide

Coltraco are honoured that HRH The Princess Royal is a patron of Maritime UK – Oct 2017

Coltraco Ultrasonics is honoured that HRH The Princess Royal is now a patron of Maritime UK - the leading association bringing together the UK’s maritime interests. We see this as a great benefit especially post-Brexit to continue the uplift in the sector and drive it forward.

Please find below the official press release from Maritime London released via London Matters – 19 October 2017:

Royal patronage for UK's maritime sector

Her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal has become patron of Maritime UK, the promotional body for the nation’s maritime sector. Maritime UK brings together the UK’s shipping, ports, marine and business services industries to promote the sector, influence government and drive growth. It is also focussed on promoting career opportunities across the maritime sector, both at sea and onshore.

Chairman of Maritime UK, David Dingle CBE, says: “We are honoured that The Princess Royal, a long-standing advocate of the UK’s maritime industries, has agreed to become patron of Maritime UK. Her Royal Highness’s commitment to growing and strengthening our sector is well known and respected. Becoming our patron underlines the importance of Maritime UK’s work in supporting the nation’s maritime sector, which contributes just under £40 billion a year to the economy and supports nearly one million jobs. By bringing the entire sector together to collaborate, we can ensure that UK maritime has a future that is as bright as its well-known past.” The influential endorsement of Her Royal Highness is expected to help Maritime UK to engage its supporters, raise its profile and deepen relationships with friends and partners across the world.

The news follows last months’ highly successful London International Shipping Week, where Maritime UK and its members promoted the very best of the UK’s maritime offer, including cutting-edge technology, high-quality design and manufacturing, unparalleled expertise in services and major investment opportunities.

The maritime sector is the fundamental enabler of UK global trade. Some 95% of goods arrive in the UK having been carried on ships and through ports. Her Royal Highness was previously patron of Seavision, which has been integrated into Maritime UK, where organisations from across the sector now collaborate to promote career opportunities across the country. The Princess Royal was elected Master of The Corporation of Trinity House in May 2011 and was Master of the Honourable Company of Master Mariners from 2005-2007.

With thanks to Capt Norman from DNV-GL among others for being a wonderful host. It was an extremely interesting evening discussing offshore oil and gas, marine and renewable energy.

We are extremely pleased to be working with DNV-GL who are real industry leaders. We look forward to our visit to their facility at Spadeam in due course to witness safety critical experiments related to fire safety. (hyperlink: Learn more about Spadeam Test Site here.

Watch this space to learn more about what we at Coltraco Ultrasonics are doing in the renewable energy sector through our work in Wind Power.

Coltraco are proud to be a part of the UK’s renewable energy sector via our work supporting leading wind turbine operator to improve their fire safety. We wanted to share the exciting news just released today on the BBC about “The world's first floating wind farm has started delivering electricity to the Scottish grid.”

Five giant turbines have been tethered to the seabed about 15 miles from Peterhead, Aberdeenshire. Nicola Sturgeon will formally open the wind farm later on Wednesday.

The first minister said the project, which will generate enough power for about 20,000 homes, was testament to Scotland's "international reputation" for renewable energy.

At 175m from sea surface to blade tip, the turbines are almost four times the height of the Forth Bridge.

They extend another 78 metres below the surface and are chained to the seabed to stay in place.

Norwegian energy firm Statoil has been working on developing the project, known as Hywind, for more than 15 years.

CEO at the FPA Summit Reception, Mansion House - 10 Oct 2017

Our CEO enjoyed a wonderful evening at Mansion House, London EC1 for the FPA (Fire Protection Association)'s Summit Reception last Tuesday 10th October 2017. There were interesting speeches on Grenfell and discussions on the state of commercial contracting, BSI, ISO and leading OEMs interaction.

The FPA hosted this evening to draw together industry stakeholders including fellow FPA members, FIA, FSF (Fire Sector Federation) and insurers such as AVIVA who hosted the Fire Sector Summit the following day at their HQ in London. [See future news piece on the exhibition shortly.] Mansion House is the home of the Lord Mayor of the City of London and where the Chancellor delivers his annual Mansion House speech. Coltraco's CEO, pictured here with Mr Ian Moore, CEO of the FIA (Fire Industry Association) were honoured to share "a splendid tour" of the historical building afterwards.

With thanks to the FPA which we are proud members of, including but not limited to, Mr Jonathan O'Neill, CEO, Mr Jim Glockling, Technical Director and Ms Melissa Harrison, Marketing.

We are proud to launch Portalevel® MAX INDUSTRIAL. Watch this space for the new web page launching this week!

“What marks out Portalevel® MAX INDUSTRIAL from the crowd? How does it differ from the Portalevel® MAX? What types of industrial applications can it work on?”

These are key frequently asked questions we have had since the pre-release to some key customers and our global distributor network over the last two weeks. And we are delighted to share the answers:

Updated software: not for testing fire suppressant gases but designed to test a wide range of varying applications across the industrial markets

Special applications sensor: the ready to go package includes a brand new sensor technology which enables this exciting range of capability

Start testing today: oil in transformers/switches, ammonia and even mayonnaise!

Keen to find out more?

For product information: please get in touch with our happy Sales Team today on +44 207 629 8475. Interested in distributing? Please call and ask to speak to our Head of Marketing & Communications.

Watch this space for the product page and new brochure coming out this week.

[Updated] Platform Explodes in Gulf of Mexico

By MarEx 2017-10-16 01:08:38

One man is missing after an explosion on an oil platform in Lake Pontchartrain near Kenner, Louisiana, on Sunday evening.

U.S. Coast Guard Sector New Orleans received a report from a witness at approximately 8 p.m. of an oil platform explosion. The fire

on the platform, which is owned by Clovelly Oil Co., has since been extinguished.

was reported by one of the platform workers that eight people were aboard at the time of the explosion, and one person did not make it to shore. Of the seven people who made it to shore, six were taken to the hospital. The Coast Guard and partner agencies continue to search for the missing man.

Following the initial report, Sector New Orleans launched a Coast Guard Station New Orleans 29-foot Response Boat-Small boatcrew, a Station New Orleans 45-foot Response Boat-Medium boatcrew and a Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans MH-65 Dolphin Helicopter air crew. Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries, Jefferson County Parish and St. Charles Parish also have marine units on scene. Bayou Gauche Fire Department and a good Samaritan vessel are on scene fighting the fire, which has been reduced substantially.

Letter to the Editor, The Telegraph - from CSPH – 13th Oct 2017

CEO at House of Commons with UK Shipbuilders & Shiprepairers

Our CEO was with the Shipbuilders & Shiprepairers Association and National Maritime today where a speech was given by the highly impressive, dedicated and dynamic Rt Hon John Hayes MP, Minister for Shipping at the Department for Transport. We thank the Chief Executives of the SSA and NM for their kindness and courtesy.

Ancient 16 year old Portalevel® still working perfectly!

The After Sales team were delighted to receive this old unit today. Sent it by a loyal customer who has been looking after his unit for many years. They are happy with its operation - so much so that they refuse our upgrade offers.

To learn more about calibrations or upgrades if you would like to see the trade in offers get in touch today:

CEO in Manchester

Clare, Head of Marketing & Communications, was delighted to give a presentation at the Pacific conference this week. With thanks to RINA, IMarEST and SMI marine associations which we are proud members of who were there too promoting the conference with a great programme on innovative and interesting discussions. Clare spoke on Day 2, Session 14, Structural Integrity on the topic of water ingress. The discussion was “The Ungoverned Space: Call for Improved Test & Maintenance to Comply with Regulations & Go Beyond”.

Clare was also delighted to meet with Flamestop our fire market distributors and Warsash Scientific who are long-standing customers and distributor in the industrial market.

Exhibiting at Neva Marine, St Petersburg, Russia – Oct 2017

UK Chamber of Shipping’s recent Safety Culture at Sea event.

This question was something that the event, which was held onboard the Saga Pearl II on September 22-24, sought to define and how shipping companies might go about establishing or improving safety culture within their own organisations. When safety culture is at its most effective, any organisation improves and joins the world-leading ones who already are. we are at its centre in our Safeship™ technologies.

Exhibiting at Naval Damage Control Conference in Portsmouth

George Hunter, Director of Sales Coltraco Ultrasonics, was delighted to exhibit at INMEX-SMM India in Mumbai with our Naval and Shipping Partners in India Navicom Technology. George thanks Commander Vikesh and all the team for their hospitality during the week, and for their dedication and commitment to providing excellent technology to the Indian Navy and leading shipping companies in the country.

Sophia D’Souza, PA to Cdr Vikesh Navicom: “The INMEX-SMM 2017 was a resounding success. Several attendees praised the hard work and dedication of our group. [sic] Our mission is to exceed all of our client's greatest expectations and we had realized that such an experience would be paramount to developing and maintaining our high levels of world class service excellence. [sic] Together we created a formidable team, which demonstrated such professionalism in the event industry.”

Visiting Indian Register of Shipping

Maritime London at the heart of UK Maritime Strategy

This week we were invited to join Maritime London. We wish to thank Mr Jos Standerwick the Chief Executive of Maritime London for welcoming us to its membership and wish him all success in our shared endeavours to contribute to London as the global shipping centre.

Japanese approval for Coltraco’s liquid level indicator announced in FESC magazine

Chinese Courts in Beijing uphold the Intellectual Property rights of Coltraco Ultrasonics. Coltraco are delighted to win two more trademark cases for their brand names: Portalevel® and Portagauge® in China.

We thank the DIT team in China for their initial assistance years ago in helping us to choose a fantastic trademark attorney to fight our case.

Coltraco Ultrasonics are proud members of the new National Maritime SSA partnership between the SSA and NMDG launched at LISW last week.

Coltraco Ultrasonics are proud members of the new National Maritime SSA partnership between the SSA and NMDG launched at LISW last week.

Official press release from the new Chair of National Maritime, Dr Richard Freeman:

“This agreement promises a bright future for all members and is being heralded as a perfect marriage between SSA, the UK’s oldest maritime trade association and widely regarded as the ‘voice of the marine industry and British shipbuilding’ and National Maritime, the country’s fastest growing and most dynamic maritime network.”

Shipbuilders & Shiprepairers Association (SSA) : As a not-for profit organisation, the SSA is the ‘Voice of the Marine Industry’ and represents member’s interests in maritime working groups with UK government and industry, and is involved in collaborative projects with European shipyards and maritime organisations.

National Maritime (NMDG): As a not-for profit organisation, National Maritime drives trade, productivity and growth for maritime industries working in the maritime sector, focused on two priorities 1) Supply chain development and 2) The sustainable growth of estuarine and coastal communities.

ABS Europe Technical Committee invites CEO Dr Carl Hunter to join

Dr Carl Hunter, Coltraco Ultrasonics CEO, would like to thank Mr Richard Pride, ABS Europe President, who recommended him for involvement in the ABS Technical Committee. He would also like to thank Mr Stefano Penco, ABS VP Engineering - ABS Europe, who kindly invited him, stating: “It would be a pleasure for ABS to have your participation and contribution to the ABS Europe Technical Committee.”

Carl is honoured to be recognized as an industry thought leader and will contribute as fully as he is able to promote the endeavours of improving safety and technical standards.

ABS – American Bureau of Shipping was founded in 1862 in New York as a not-for-profit corporation. According to the ABS website, it is “committed to setting standards for safety and excellence as one of the world’s leading ship classification organizations. The mission of ABS is to serve the public interest as well as the needs of our members and clients by promoting the security of life and property and preserving the natural environment.”

For watertight testing why is Portascanner® WATERTIGHT’s generator the best?

Exhibiting at IFSEC SE ASIA

Director of Sales was delighted to exhibit at IFSEC SE ASIA with partners UMW in Malaysia last week. George says he was “delighted to spend time with our Permalevel MULTIPLEX partners in Malaysia. I am incredibly excited about our future opportunities.” Thanks to UMW for hosting George in Kuala Lumpur at their offices and for designing this brochure.

George was also delighted to host our Japanese partners, Nichibou.

We thank the UK Pavilion for the nice Union Jack design and the BSIA who arranged it.

Congratulations to Mrs Karen Jones on the cover of Endurance GB South West - 15 Sept 2017

Karen, our Sr Sales Manager, here pictured at the vetgate at Europe's largest endurance competition. "Keeping up appearances - the art of looking good on an endurance ride" - article coming out soon.

We are proud to have Karen in the team and to celebrate her passion for endurance riding.

CEO attends London International Shipping Week Conference 2017 at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London

Coltraco’s CEO Carl Hunter continues his engagement during LISW by attending the official Conference today and had the opportunity to meet fellow industry figureheads as well as take a moment to meet leading BBC journalist John Humphrys who acted as moderator (picture sitting).

The Welcome address was led by the Rt Hon Liam Fox MP, Secretary of State for International Trade (pictured standing), who inspired us at Coltraco at the beginning of this year by announcing “2017: The Year of Exporting”.

Mr Hunter also met with the IMO Secretary-General, Kitack Lim, who delivered the second Keynote Address. Mr Lim also spoke at the Safety At Sea Award dinner the previous night which was attended by Coltraco’s Director of Sales and Head of Marketing & Communications who enjoyed hearing Mr Lim declaring his appreciation to the “kind and devoted” contribution of those in the industry delivering safety. His key message drew on the audience to improve “communication and collaboration to promote safety.”

Coltraco’s CEO Mr Carl Hunter would like to thank IMPA for their combined efforts this week – culminating in the dinner at HMS Belfast.

IMPA LONDON SHOW - organising a great exhibition at the QEII Centre opposite Westminster this week at which Carl also spoke.

ASSOCIATION - “The Leading Association for Marine Purchasing and Supply Professionals across the globe.” Coltraco are pleased to be members of this association which brings together the leading shipping purchasers and suppliers to discuss procurement strategy, new technology and working together to improve safety in the industry whilst saving time and cost.

Our CEO was delighted to be welcome onboard THV Galatea by the Trinity House reception during LISW – 13 Sept 2017

Trinity House was founded in 1515 and relies on its assets and the levying of dues on ships visiting British ports. Trinity House works with Northern Lighthouse Board for Scotland and Commissioner for Irish Lights for Ireland. All 3 covering the British Isles – “a term we might use more to describe this extraordinary archipelago that is our Country and Ireland” says Mr Hunter, Coltraco Ultrasonics, CEO (pictured).

Mr Hunter, described the evening as “wonderful” to be onboard the 3400 dwt vessel designed to find, maintain and re-install Navigational Aids around the Coast of England, Wales, Channel Islands, Scilly Isles, and Gibraltar.

Trinity House is a charity dedicated to safeguarding shipping and seafarers, providing education, support and welfare to the seafaring community with a statutory duty as a General Lighthouse Authority to deliver a reliable, efficient and cost-effective aids to navigation service for the benefit and safety of all mariners. “We've played a major role in UK and international maritime safety for over 500 years”.

Exhibiting at IMPA London - Sept 2017

Clare led our exhibition at the International Maritime Purchasing Association show this week at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in London this week supported by George and Chloe meeting ship owner and marine supplier customers at this prestigious event.

Shipping Reception at the House of Commons

Our CEO and Head of Communications were honoured to join the Minister of Shipping and Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group Maritime & Ports, Mr Jim Fitzpatrick MP at a Parliamentary Reception at the House of Commons today with our Assistant Marketing & Communications as part of LISW 2017.

British Government Reception at Lancaster House, London

As a key element of London International Shipping Week our CEO was honoured to be invited to join a reception at Lancaster House hosted by the Secretary of State for Transport and the Minister of State for Shipping, The Rt Hon John Hayes MP with the Chairman of Maritime UK Mr David Dingle.

Speaking at London international Shipping Week in London - Sept 2017

Our CEO and Head of Marketing spoke at LISW in London this week on the Ungoverned Space in Bulk Carriers and Tankers life safety in the Queen Elizabeth Conference Centre in Westminster. This is the first time that Coltraco have spoken at this global shipping event.

Fire India 2017 Speaking & Exhibition

George enjoyed a fantastic flying visit in India thanks to Capt Amit, Rushina, the whole Intime Fire team and to Karin Singh who is part of Coltraco’s team in India.

Intime Fire – Fire Safety Partner

A brilliant stand and an engaging team with whom we were privileged to exhibit. Customers new and old had the opportunity to see demonstrations on FM-200® with the Portalevel® MAX, as well as learn about the whole range.

Ms Karin Singh, Coltraco Ultrasonics, Marketing With thanks also to Karin who entertained George to a wonderful dinner.

Presentation

The talk went very well indeed with a good attendance of 200 – 300 people approximately. We are grateful to the organisers – especially Mr Chillar from IFE who kindly invited us to. See image of the certificate George was honoured to receive.

Safety at Sea Awards

Delighted to announce that Portalevel™ MAX Marine & Portasteele™ Calculator have been nominated for Best Safety Product of the Year.

Director Middle East – Captain Peter Machado.

We are proud to welcome Captain Peter Machado onto our team as Director Middle East. His role includes developing new relationships largely in the shipping, defence and oil and gas industries, and managing our ODA Service Station in Dubai, Elcome, together with our Middle East agents and distributors. We thank Peter for his consistent advice and generosity to the whole Coltraco team and network.

Captain Peter Machado is an industry veteran and Master Mariner and was also one of our first Fleet users of Portascanner® WATERTIGHT when he was with Kuwait Livestock and Trading saying, “COLTRACO’s Portascanner is the product that I am happy to endorse having used the product for many years in the challenging environment of large livestock carriers. Watertight integrity was and remains critical as the most recent conversions have been car carriers, container ships and tankers. Portascanner is portable, easy to carry and use, and more importantly, very efficient. It is a rugged. Aspects include purchase price at good value, good warranty terms, the availability of spares and service stations at major hub ports.”

“Supplier of the Year 2017” Award by Seatrade Cruise won by Coltraco Ultrasonics – PRESS RELEASE 08th Sept

We are humbly delighted to share with you this exciting news from the annual CLIA (Cruise Line Industry Association) Dinner, 6th September in Hamburg.

Why did we win? Carnival Cruise Lines chose Coltraco to supply its fleet with our UL-Listed and ABS approved Portalevel® MAX Marine, designed where either third party service companies or the vessels’ crew themselves inspect large fire suppression systems of up to 600 cylinders containing CO2, FM-200® or Novec™1230. The ease of operation in comparison to weighing, increases the ability of more regular and frequent checks, improving fire safety management onboard. Portalevel® MAX Marine enables its users to go above and beyond minimal regulations compliance e.g. IMO SOLAS FSS Code.

Carl Hunter, CEO, Coltraco Ultrasonics: “The design stemmed from the Royal Navy and the US Navy to monitor their pressurised Halon systems in case of accidental discharge or leakage from the pressurised cylinders some years ago. We are currently developing new products and systems in watertight integrity and pressurisation monitoring.”

Clare Hunter, Head of Marketing & Communications, Coltraco Ultrasonics: “We are honoured to receive this prestigious award and thank those who recognise the fine work we are doing, working closely with our customers to deliver the Safeship® in two key areas of fire safety and watertight integrity. Discover more: coltraco.com/portalevel-max-8th.”

UBM Seatrade Cruise official press release: “Held annually for 11 years, the Seatrade Cruise Awards continue to recognise and reward the very best of international cruise achievement and act as a catalyst for driving the continuous improvement of standards across the industry.”

Mary Bond Managing Director for Publishing, Seatrade: “Once again, we have had a staggering number of entries – over 100 – from across the globe. The calibre of entries was also exceptionally high and I am grateful to the independent panel of judges who spent considerable time deciding the worthy winners.”

Maersk Pembroke: it is understood that the fire, which began in an auxiliary engine, is under control. Credit: Hannes Van Rijn

The Maersk Line container ship Maersk Pembroke has been disabled by an engine room fire, which broke out while it was under way from the Belgian port of Antwerp to Montreal in Canada.

Maersk Line indicated that the fire was reported early on Tuesday morning when the Dutch-flagged, 2,902 teu vessel, which which operates on the company's Canada Atlantic Express Service was 125 n miles southwest of the Irish coast.

It said that it understood that the fire, which began in an auxiliary engine, was under control, adding that all 22 crew members aboard the vessel were safe and that no environmental damage had been reported.

“We are working on a contingency plan to make the vessel operational again, simultaneously with an emergency towing plan,” the company said in a statement on Tuesday. “We are in contact with our customers to find the best solution for the handling of their cargo.”

The company told Fairplay this afternoon that the fire had been extinguished but declined to give details of the contingency plans under consideration.

Meanwhile, a Bibby Line Supramax bulk carrier, Cheshire, was reported to be under tow this morning, 54 n miles south of the island of El Hierro, the westernmost of the Canary Islands. This was 10 days after it first reported problems with its ammonium nitrate fertiliser cargo while under way from Norway to Thailand.

According to the Maritime Bulletin website, a suspected fire was reported aboard the vessel on 13 August and the crew were evacuated on 14 August after several explosions.

The 24 Russian, Ukrainian, and Filipino crew members had to be winched to safety by Spanish rescue service helicopters after the situation on board became too dangerous.

Bibby Line has since said that salvors had succeeded in getting a tow line to the vessel on Monday and that the vessel was heading towards Gran Canaria, where it was intended that it would take up position some 50 n miles southwest of the island.

One report said that the owner of the vessel’s cargo had sent four experts to Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, to advise on how to deal with it in its current state.

The company is being assisted to salvage the vessel by US-based Resolve Marine, which said that it had been close to the stricken vessel since 16 August but had experienced difficulty getting aboard because of adverse weather conditions and the heat and fumes coming from the vessel’s holds.

It indicated that the situation had improved on board the vessel, which was pictured at one point with smoke billowing spectacularly from its deck, after the process of decomposition of the fertiliser had been completed in several of its holds.

Maritime media relations specialist MTI Network, which is acting as spokesperson for Bibby Line, said this afternoon that the MV Cheshire’s cargo was continuing to react and that, as a result, it was still impossible to board the vessel.

Cargo combustion had begun in hold 4, spreading subsequently to holds 5 and 3. Since then, the combustion had ceased in holds 4 and 5 and was running down in hold 3 but was still in the early stages in holds 1 and 2.

MTI said that said that the vessel was on its way to a position defined by the Spanish authorities 40 nautical miles south of Gran Canaria, which it was expected to reach tomorrow evening if current progress is maintained.

The salvors hope to be able to board the vessel when it arrives there, if conditions permit, with the aim of cooling the cargo down. So far, efforts to cool the cargo have been carried out by the tugs accompanying the vessel with limited efficiency.

“If they can get on the ship, the cooling down will be much quicker,” MTI said. “because they can get to the hot spot and cool it down. Until they get on to the ship they can’t do that.”

The company said that it had no information regarding the condition of the MV Cheshire itself at this point.

“Until we can get on it and see what has actually happened I don’t think we are going to know that.

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Japan: FESC Approval & UK Prime Minister's visit 2017

Portalevel® MAX NIPPON has received FESC Approval and Certification.

This is a strategic achievement for the company and the first time that an ultrasonic product has been approved in Japan for the fire sector. This enables our valued Japanese customers to purchase and use it. We have visited Japan a number of times over the years to pursue this.

Coltraco CEO, Carl Hunter, : “We have always been committed to the wonderful country Japan is. One of the world’s largest and most advanced economies too. G3. The Prime Minister Theresa May is there this week too to create new trade and defence relationships between the UK and Japan.”

Official UK Government news about UK & Japanese Government relations below:

3rd September Merchant Navy Day – Red Ensign to be flown in more than 600 locations.

On Merchant Navy Day, 3 September, the Red Ensign will be flown ashore to raise awareness of our dependence as an island nation on our past, present and future Merchant Navy seafarers.

The Red Ensign will be flown in over 600 UK locations such as civic centres, town halls, churches and tourist attractions to celebrate our ‘Island Nation’. Merchant seafarers are responsible for 95% of the UK’s imports.

Money raised by the flags flown on Sunday is used to support seafarers and their families in times of need.

Wind Turbines Choose Us for Fire Safety

Sprinkler Flow Testing – Why Choose Portasonic® FLOW?

For a business and property owner, protecting against potentially catastrophic results of fire such as life loss, property damage and loss of assets is a common challenge.

Automatic sprinkler systems are used more than any other fixed fire protection system and over 40 million sprinklers are fitted world-wide each year to deal with this problem.

However, if sprinkler systems are not periodically inspected for mechanical deficiencies, proper function, valve actuation, water flow, sprinkler clearances, etc., the system may not be effective during a fire. Corrosion can cause a sprinkler system and fire hydrant systems to fail due to blockages and failed sprinkler heads.

[NEWS] Container Ship Catches Fire, Loses Engine Power By Mfame Team

On August 21, a container ship reportedly caught fire after an explosion and lost its engine power.

What happened?

In the late hours of August 21, the Container ship ‘Maersk Pembroke’caught fire after suffering from an explosion in Celtic sea west of Lizard Point. The vessel was en route from Antwerp Belgium to Montreal Canada when the incident occurred.

Fire brought under control:

The fire was isolated and brought under control by the crew members. The space where the fire originated has been isolated and is being cooled from the outside. The fire reportedly caused damage to the machinery and communication equipment onboard the vessel thus disabling it.

Lost engine power:

The vessel lost its engine power and was running on the emergency generator before becoming adrift at Sea for a couple of hours. It was successfully salvaged by the supply tug ‘Edda Frende’. Fortunately, no one was injured during the incident and the officials have initiated investigation to determine the reason for the explosion.

PM heralds HMS Queen Elizabeth as “a symbol of the United Kingdom as a great global, maritime nation”

The Prime Minister Theresa May reinforced the might of Britain as a maritime nation in her address: “Britain truly has the best sailors, marines and officers in the world and I believe that you deserve the very best equipment. That is what we have with HMS Queen Elizabeth. This ship is a symbol of the United Kingdom as a great global, maritime nation”.

First Sea Lord‏, Admiral Philip Jones, shared “Navies are strategic in nature. @HMSQNLZ will sit at the heart of our defence for 50 years. Today is a triumph of national ambition.” (Above photo credit)

We at Coltraco Ultrasonics are proud to be operating with the Royal Navy and the broader shipping industry. The Government strategy to improve trade, and specifically the maritime sector through the likes of such as the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Maritime & Ports which we are engaged with, is being supported and aided by associations including the UK Chamber of Shipping, SMI, SSA, IMPA and others.

The Royal Navy posted this video to commemorate the occasion and really shows the scale of the vessel.

Shortlisted for multiple awards already in 2017!

Shortlisted for multiple awards already in 2017!

Exporting is GREAT and Made in England

We are proud to support our All-Party Parliamentary Groups in Westminster. Of our Science and that all our R&D is based in the UK. Our commitment to designing and manufacturing our Safesite™ and Safeship™ technologies here. Exporting to 109 countries. And proud of our life cycle technical support. Made in England.

HMS Queen Elizabeth at Sea – August 2017

The Royal Navy’s new Aircraft Carrier at sea with the frigate HMS Westminster and the USS George W Bush this week in the North Sea en route to her new home at HM Naval Base, Portsmouth where 3.8m tons of silt have been removed to enable her to berth there ! The largest warship ever built for the Royal Navy, enabling the UK to project and sustain Naval power overseas and to whom we are proud to support in watertight integrity monitoring.

Exhibiting at INMEX-SMM in India 3rd-5th October 2017

New Advert for our USA Customers – Aug 2017

Incident:

The vessel was loaded up with wire coils. When loading was complete the crew taped across the transverse beams of all the cargo holds with Ram-Nek. During the vessel’s transit it sailed through heavy weather that lasted for about two days. During this time the vessel was pitching and rolling and the cargo hatches were covered in water.

While discharging in port it was found that the steel coils in the top tiers were corroded. The steel coils below the centreline and folding seams were the most affected.
A surveyor in attendance observed that the cargo hatch covers were not in good condition. The greatest amount of rusted coils were in holds 1 and 3.

Reason:

The water integrity of the cargo hatch covers were tested with an ultrasonic device which detected significant defects to the sealing arrangements.

The gaskets were in poor condition and the hatch covers tested positive for chloride which indicates that salt water has leaked.

The non-return valves for the drain channel were also in a poor condition as they were clogged and the ball inside was not moving.

The transverse packing on the hatch covers was leaking, there were some cracked corners and leaking side joints. The surveyor also found a number of leaking ventilation covers.

What caused the damage?

The cargo hatches were in a poor condition, which caused seawater to enter the cargo holds. The gaskets were also in poor condition and the cleats could not be tightened beyond hand tightening.

Recommendations:

It’s strongly recommended to do an ultrasonic test instead of a hose test for testing the cargo hatch covers.

Productive Marketing meeting at No1 London Bridge with Chloe – August 2017

Just 3 weeks into starting in her new role, Chloe is making leaps and bounds in the Marketing & Communications team. Watch this space to find out new changes coming to your inbox! Sign up to be the first to know about offers, product pre-releases and news This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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Our commitment to Asia continues. We are very proud to announce that the Fire Equipment and Safety Centre (FESC) of Japan has tested Portalevel™ MAX Nippon with FESC Product Certification and the product is now moving toward approval and clearance for use by Japan’s Fire Safety sector for use on CO2, FM-200™, NOVEC™1230 and other liquefied clean agent extinguishing systems.

Our CEO and Director of Sales Visiting Parliament - July 2017

This week our CEO met with with Mr Ronnie King, Honorary Secretary of the All-Party Parliamentary Group Fire Safety and Councillor Julia Alexander, of Westminster City Council at the House of Lords. Later in the week our CEO and George were fortunate to be invited to a Reception at the House of Commons.

CEO at the Department for International Trade – July 2017.

Our CEO joined Mr Tom Chant of the Society of Maritime Industries at a Government reception held at Lancaster House in London to celebrate the first anniversary of the Department of International Trade. Hosted by the Secretary of State and President of the Board of Trade, The Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MP, Mrs Antonia Romeo, Permanent Secretary and The Rt Hon Mark Garnier MP, Minister of State. We wish to congratulate the fine work of the Department to develop UK trade and investment oportunities overseas.

Delighted to say that we have won our Intellectual Property case the in Beijing courts and our Coltraco brand name has been approved for registration in China. We are grateful to the Chinese legal system.

Coltraco is grateful for the speaking opportunity from Subsea UK during the event and has managed to establish several useful links with various companies. We remain highly committed to support the growing Fire Safety Industry in Malaysia that forms part of the wider Offshore Market and look forward to secure our position in the country with our Portalevel™ and Portascanner™ range of equipment.

Adrian, our R&D Manager said: “Malaysia is a beautiful country that has blossomed since 1957 when it achieved its independence from the British and remained part of the Commonwealth. Today, Malaysia is open to great business opportunities from countries all over the world as evident from its highly successful annual Asian Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Engineering Exhibition held at KLCC from 11th – 13th July 2017.“

We also thank UMW for their work in continuously educating the public on monitoring cylinders following our partnership to deliver Permalevel™ Multiplex for installations within the nation.

Seatrade Awards 2017 Finalist – commentary from RIN

“Being a finalist is no mean achievement and is itself is a recognition of the significant contribution which Coltraco Ultrasonics has made to maritime safety. My congratulations to the Coltraco Ultrasonics team, for a team effort it has surely been.”

Welcome to Chloe – Assistant to Head of Marketing & Communications

It is with great pleasure that we welcome Ms Chloe Kay to the Marketing and Communications Team. Chloe graduated from Durham University for which we offer many congratulations. Chloe will support Clare and our CEO as we build reputational excellence around our global markets in 108 countries and focus on our core capabilities in the marine, energy, industrial and fire sectors. Chloe successfully completed Internships with the company whilst at Durham and was selected from over 100 applicants. Our CEO says, “I warmly welcome Chloe to our company. Chloe is a shining beacon of hope in this country’s young people. The best of our Graduates have never been better than they are today and Chloe exemplifies this very finely. As Chloe kindly joins us we may look with great confidence to build our company to one of our leadership in our fields”.

In so many ways the crew’s handling of both the HI-FOG and CO2 fire extinguishing systems was timely and good. CO2 remains the best solution for these types of events if there is a good maintenance system to ensure contents has not leaked. If the CO2 liquid level has dropped it will not discharge the appropriate design concentration on release so may not be able to extinguish the fire event.

Food Processing Factory

Background: Food processing factory based in the south of the UK producig Coleslaw, packaged salads and pastas for the likes of MacDonalds, Tesco, Morrisons, Lidl. Producing over 130,000 pots of Coleslaw a day.

Application: 2.2metre high, 5mm stainless steel wall, filled with mayonnaise to be used for the Coleslaw. The current monitoring method consists of employing ladders to peer into the cylinder and check usage and remaining contents. The issue with this method lies in potential contamination and is a health and safety risk to the operator.

Solution: A site visit was conducted by Coltraco Engineers and after a short trial we were able to gauge that the existing liquid level indication technology employed on the Portalevel® Max would be efficient in quickly and accurately gauging the liquid level of mayoinaise within the vessel.

Implementation: The implementation of the Portalevel® Max allows the plant to run more efficiently and reduces risks by providing the staff with a means of accurately and non-invasively monitoring the contents within the mayoinaise tank negating the need for physical inspection using ladders posing a health and safety risk to the operator.

Possibilities: The trial and implementation suggested that we could develop a fixed monitoring system for this vessel and others like it, on order to non-invasively, coninuously monitor the contents of mayoinaise (or any other condiments) within the tank. In addition we also saw possibilities to refine the capabilities of the Portalevel® Max to increase ease of use.

COMPIT REVIEW in HANSA July 2017 by Felix Selzer – pg.67

Finalist at Seatrade Awards - Safety at Sea category – 30 June 2017

Coltraco Ultrasonics is proud to be a Finalist in the Safety at Sea category in the UBM Seatrade Awards. Thanks to the organisers who said: “In the year where we received a record breaking number of entries, it is a huge achievement being recognised as a finalist.”

The award shortlisting was for the Portasteele® Calculator: quickest and easiest method to test that the onboard fire extinguishing system has not leaked by verifying the weight of CO2 or clean agent in the cylinders, adding value to the SMS reports by recording the data.

CEO invited to join International Leaders, London – July 2017

International Leaders London have invited Coltraco Ultrasonics’ CEO Carl Hunter to join their panel of business experts. Mr Hunter is honoured to have been asked and looks forward to assisting others in their endeavours.

It’s all about access and connectivity to a network of experts and mentors which will help the entrepreneur to achieve their objectives on a much shorter timetable.

The programme is ideal for businesses who wish to Grow, Innovate or Exit and is especially powerful when the management team is involved, along with their CEO.

The Fire Sector Federation (FSF) statement in response to the Government announcement of a Public Inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire.

To "provide a pan-industry view of the systemic breakdown of fire safety regulation and propose recommendations on possible solutions."

FSF Chairman: “At the moment we see too many fire experts each day making snapshot comments without true consideration of the whole picture. The FSF is the only representative organisation that brings together all of the fire sector in one place."

Proud Members of the Fire Safety Federation

With our thanks to Mr Ronnie King OBE, O St.J, QFSM, FIFireE, Honorary Administrative Secretary for the All-Party Parliamentary Fire Safety & Rescue Group (APPFSRG) and the fine work that he does so well for our industry, and to Mrs Jo Griffin, Ms Celestine Cheong and Mr Jonathan O’Neill OBE of the Fire Protection Association.

At Coltraco Ultrasonics we are proud that our island nation has committed to a strong Navy with the impressive new aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth whose historic launch from Rosyth is due today. A day marking crucial values of UK technology, innovation, manufacturing and dedication to our Nation.

Fire safety and watertight integrity are some of the critical areas which will undergo tests in the next 6 weeks by the 1,000 sailors and contractors onboard. “Crew have spent hours each day carrying out safety drills for fires, flooding and personnel overboard. More than 650 doors and hatches have been checked to ensure they are watertight and fire safe.”

Coltraco Ultrasonics were invited by Antigua to speak at the IMO in February about these areas of fire safety and watertight integrity to highlight the need for raising awareness about the risks, the issues with current inspection methods and the possibilities that new technology offers now and in the future with constant monitoring.

Welcoming London's Naval Attaches in London - June 2017

Our CEO met London's Naval Attaches and Naval Advisors from overseas and Commonwealth nations including Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Kenya, Argentina and Columbia at a reception hosted by the British Naval Equipment Association aboard the HQS Wellington on the River Thames today.

Insurance: Safe Futures Campaign by RISCAuthority – June 2017

RISCAuthority is supporting a major FPA initiative entitled ‘Safe Futures Campaign’ in a bid to get government to consider the 3 highest priority topics that RISCAuthority Members have established require urgent attention at the next review of Building Regulations.

The top three issues identified are:

Solving the automatic fire alarm (AFA) issue with a call for the mandation of high integrity fire detection system in all new commercial premises

Sprinklers – A call for the mandation of sprinklers in warehousing over 4,000sqm

Modern Methods of Construction and a fresh eyes look at current Building Regulations to include fire ingress and the risks in combustible voids

Wonderful Relationships at FIREX 2017

Our CEO spoke to the Delegates this afternoon in London highlighting the need for British and ISO Standards to be implemented at the highest standard and bringing awareness for Fire Engineers to constantly monitor Gaseous Contents and Room Integrity in tandem with each other in safety critical infrastructure where they are installed. We are grateful to the TBFSN President, Mr Russ Timpson.

Industry experts abounded at the show which attracted many international visitors. Aside from the inspirational speakers such as Dame Kelly Holmes, Professor Brian Cos, Coltraco Ultrasonics’ CEO spoke on three occasions. Carl’s expertise in his particular areas were recognised by the very well attended Tall Buildings Fire Safety Network Conference (image below left) on Day 2 where he spoke about the need for understanding gaseous systems and constant monitoring thereof. The FPA invited him to speak at their FPA InfoZone (image below middle) about the UK’s place in the world and leading British fire safety technology which led very aptly into Day 3. The conference rounded up at the Expertise & Guidance Theatre panel (image below right) discussing the ever present and contentious topic of BREXIT, chaired by Ian Moore Chairman of the FIA, Tracy Kirk of Hochiki representing the FIA Export Council, the representative from BSI and Carl Hunter CEO of Coltraco Ultrasonics.

Day 2 – SENSING A CHANGE Coltraco Ultrasonics’ CEO, Carl Hunter, began day two discussing how inadequate fire regulation and onboard fire-fighting systems have become in an age of difficult to reach cargo and ill-maintained gas and water delivery lines. He particularly focussed on how onboard sensors can aid a vessel’s fire safety.

London Tower Block Fire –June 2017

Our thoughts and prayers are with those who lost their lives, are injured and any way affected by the West London Grenfell tower block fire.

Our CEO with Honorary Doctor of Science from Durham University - feels privileged to speak at Hatfield College - 14 June 2017

Committed to the USA: another great NFPA Show – June 2017

Our Director of Sales Mr George Hunter continues to cement Coltraco’s commitment to the American market with his 4th trip to the USA this year. Having enjoyed the series of 3 NAFED shows, George was in Boston for the NFPA Conference & Expo. Keen to meet our USA Fire Safety Partner or Marine Partner? Get to know a local distributor near you? Get in touch to be introduced.

CEO Elected Associate Fellow of The Nautical Institute

The Nautical Institute is based in London and is an international non-governmental organisation with consultative status at the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) representing maritime professionals involved in the command and control of ships. Our CEO is most grateful to the Council for his election.

Speaking at Marine Maintenance Expo 2017 Holland

Karen spoke about the need to monitor ships CO2 systems in compliance with the IMO SLAS FSS Code at the conference today.

Nautical Institute London Branch

Our CEO attended a meeting of the London Branch last night with Captain Christopher Gibbs held aboard the HQS Wellington, the home of the Honourable Company of Master Mariners.

London

Our thoughts are with the lost and the injured and their families. London keeps calm and carries on as we always will. 800 years of our Parliament too this week as we enter our General Election.

Award shortlisting announced at Nor-Shipping 2017! IHS Markit Fairplay Safety At Sea - Best Safety Product of the Year.

Karen at Fire Australia 2017 in Sydney

With our thanks to our friends and customers in Australia as we successfully launch Portascanner™ 520 to test the room integrity of the vital spaces into which gaseous fire systems discharge and Portalevel™ MINI to test the cylinder contents of CO2, FM-200™ & NOVEC™ 1230.

CEO Joins International Leaders in London

We are delighted to announce the appointment of our CEO, Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter, to the Advisory Board of International Leaders. Carl says, “I am honoured to support David Seaton and my fellow Leaders to help inspire leading companies achieve ever-greater success through the provision of knowledge, networks, and capital to help companies achieve sustainable growth and I look forward to contributing to them.” There are 1.4m SME’s in the United Kingdom.

Exhibiting at Nor Shipping 2017 in Oslo

Karen and Clare are exhibiting in the UK Pavilion at Stand CO3-02d this week in Oslo. Showcasing our latest developments in watertight integrity testing and our new Engine Room Firecheck package of products designed to monitor the fire systems and Protected Spaces on-board Gas Carriers, Bulk Carriers, Cruise and Ro-Ro Vessels, Offshore Oil & Gas Platforms and Naval vessels. We thank the British Ambassador for hosting us the Reception at the Residence in Oslo.

British Brazilian Awards

We strongly support the Department for International Trade, wish to increase our trade with Brazil and were pleased to attend the British Brazilian awards in London last week.

Shortlisted for Seatrade Awards 2017 – Safety

June Exhibitions

Manchester 2017

Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Manchester. We celebrate the world’s first city of the Industrial Revolution through to the birthplace of the world’s first computer. We celebrate the city which took it upon itself to build the Manchester Ship Canal. To a city founded on its English and Irish, its Protestant and Catholic traditions and which made its football teams. Today a city that embraces its Pakistani and Indian communities too. Our first city which unites Health and Social Care. From Joy Division to Oasis its music and arts lead the world and today we share its grief and celebrate its future. United it stands for and united we are with this our great city.

Managing Risk & Resilience – from Buildings to Rail Systems

We are at the forefront of developing technologies to monitor automatic fire extinguishing systems in tall buildings, metro and rail systems and the room integrity of buildings.

WATCH - Watertight Doors Awareness – Training from DNVGL – May 2017

A 23 year old Portalevel™ in Marine Servicing .. still going !

A customer in Asia kindly sent us this picture last week. We build instruments to last, still repairing and calibrating units built over 25 years ago. In England.

CEO Attends Annual Dinner of the Royal Society for Asian Affairs

Committed to the strong and binding ties between the UK and South Asia we are proud to have worked across the Sub-Continent for 28 years.

CEO Speaks at DNV-GL COMPIT Conference in Cardiff – May 2017

R&D Brief - Portascanner Variable Generator Arrival - 16th May 2017

The Portascanner™ + Portapipe™ Variable Generator Combo is the latest introduction to Coltraco’s accurate and reliable Portascanner™ range. Watertight Integrity, Room Integrity and Pipe Integrity can now be inspected using a single unit by switching between internal or external transducer outputs. The Variable Generator comes with 5 different power options catering for all range of applications. We also supply the Portascanner™ Battery Pack which connects to the Variable Generator for customers’ who would like to attain the highest level of power output that is only required for applications of the largest size such as long pipeworks up to 30 metres.

Customer Testimonial from Setareh-Sahabi:

"The best brand I have seen, always use it on CO2 fix testing on various vessels, rigs and platforms, on many kinds of cylinders." Great to see the pre-2012 6th generation Portalevel model going strong.

GARD and DNV GL have combined efforts to raise awareness of the vulnerability of a ship as a result of deficient watertight doors. Between 2005-2016, the main cause of losses (over 50%) was due to damage due to a ship becoming foundered (sunk or submerged). There is difficulty in managing watertight doors, which are essential for watertight integrity, due to their many possible failure modes and their exposure to wear and tear. It is for this reason that an awareness is promoted of their understanding, operation and maintenance, for engineers, officers and crew members.

WATCH: Video of successful use of CO2 system by Ro-Ro crew extinguishing truck fire – Maritime Executive – May 2017

“Non-US flagged ships can continue providing services for US offshore energy projects, after plans to revoke Jones Act exemptions for these vessels were abandoned. The UK Chamber played its part in the international lobbying effort that has safeguarded the exemptions.”

At Coltraco we are proud to be a member of the Chamber representing UK marine interests worldwide.

Confirmed speakers at PEFTEC 2017!

Cargo Hold and Pipework Cleaning, Inspection and Maintenance - by West of England P&I Club in MFAME

Some cargo contamination issues and the failure of holds by surveyors stem from insufficient hold and hatch cover maintenance. It is recommended that regular inspections and preventative maintenance of cargo holds and hatch covers be carried out as part of a documented planned maintenance system, ideally following the discharge of each cargo. The periodic inspections should be carried out by a responsible officer, ideally the Chief Officer, and cover all structures, surfaces and fixtures and fittings within the holds. The scope of the hold inspection should include underdeck framing, pipework and guards, access ladders and supporting framework, manhole covers, bilges as well as bulkheads, stools, side framing and tanktops. Similarly, hatchcovers, coamings and associated fixtures and fittings should be periodically inspected and repaired as necessary to maintain weathertightness. [sic]

Fire safety measures, safety of navigation, and life-saving appliances continue to be the top three categories of deficiencies discovered on ships. This is according to Tokyo MOU, one of the top Port State Control organisations.

Seminar on NDT Technology in Lithuania-28 April 2017

Technical Manager Henry had the honour to speak in front of a fine audience at the NDT Seminar in Palanga, Lithuania. We discussed ‚Ultrasonic Safety Systems and Instrumentation‘ at the seminar on „Advanced Equipment for Non-destructive Testing and Metal Characteristics Analysis“. It was a privilege to meet with the UAB Amtest organisers and he thoroughly enjoyed the time in beautiful Palanga.

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PREVIEW: FIREX, London – June 2017

Need more reasons to visit us at stand F68 FIREX in London? The inspirational physicist Professor Brian Cox OBE is announced as a speaker & our CEO is in a panel discussion “How Brexit will effect the future of fire safety?” led by Ian Moore, CEO FIA. Click here to sign up

Thanks to our distributor in Taiwan, Asahi Sunrise Co., Ltd. for promoting and demonstrating Portalevel® as the method to replace the weighing method for contents identification of fixed fire extinguishing systems. In addition to the live demos to customers and government personnel, Mr Lu gave a very good presentation which generated much interest about “Fire cylinder weighing and pipe leakage detection technology”.

Portalevel™ MAX Testing ISO Containers

As part of our special applications capability - testing pharmaceuticals in ISO Containers.

Committed to our customers throughout the UK at Fire Safety Scotland Exhibition – 4th May 2017

Adrian, our Research & Development Manager, delivered a presentation on behalf of our CEO about the Constant Monitoring of Gaseous Systems and Room Integrity. “Fire Safety Scotland is Scotland's only dedicated event for fire, security and safety professionals.” We would like to thank the organisers of the Glasgow Fire Safety Exhibition, notably Keith and Mark for this wonderful opportunity. Learn more here and about the next UK regional Fire Safety event in Manchester in October 2017http://www.firesafetyevents.com/fire-safety-home.

Come to see Karen Jones on Day 3 of the Conference on Friday 5th May in the Fire Protection Seminar in room E5.7 talk about “Safe Engineering & the “Ungoverned Space” in the Fire Industry”. With thanks to our developing relationships with our Strategic Partner, Mr Robin Sellar (top left), with our Distributors Rob Glover, Steve Birch and Ben Parkhill (not pictured) from Flamestop who also won the award for best stand. Get in touch to find out more and ask for an introduction.

BIO: Karen leads International Sales at Coltraco Ultrasonics. Coltraco design and manufacture in the UK and Karen manages our distribution and sales network in the Middle East, South Asia and Asia Pacific and co-ordinates the in-country General Managers based in Dubai, Bombay, Singapore, Seoul and Shanghai. These are supported by our ODA Service Station network in the UAE, India and Singapore. Karen grew up in Canada and Australia was educated Monte St Angelo Mercy College in Sydney and a graduate of Exeter University in the UK. Karen has operated in a career spanning property, publishing, shipping, fire safety, offshore-petrochemical and energy markets and brings to Coltraco strategic skills in customer relationship management and public relations. Karen’s interests are in equine and has represented Team Great Britain in Equestrian Endurance competing in the UK and overseas at the top level in 100 mile events. Karen is Married with 3 Children and lives in Devonshire, England.

B-I Industrial Ltd Exhibits Portalevel™ Standard in Korea

With our best wishes and thanks to the President of B-I Industrial for exhibiting Portalevel™ Standard and to Mr Andrew Kim, Head of Operations in Korea. With the four Tide Class Royal Fleet Auxiliary MARS vessels being built in Busan our commitment to support the Korean market with our leading edge technologies keeps developing strongly. We offer our best wishes to our customers and friends in Korea.

Proud to be with NAFED !

With thanks to our colleagues and friends at NAFED in America for their fantastic compliments about working with us together with a couple of fun photos from the recent NAFED conference in Las Vegas which our Director of Sales attended in March 2017.

We will be at NAFED this week for the Cleveland, Ohio Conference 4-5th May 2017

Annual SMI Dinner at Britannia Royal Naval College

Karen, Head of Global Sales is attending the Annual Conference and Dinner of the Society of Maritime Industries at Dartmouth this evening in the presence of HRH The Princess Royal. We wish to thank Captain Christopher McHugh and the SMI for the kindness and courtesy of their arrangements.

London Voted World's Top Maritime Financial City

London has been voted the world's leading financial maritime city, according to a report published by Menon Economics. According to the report, launched today London has a "special position in the financial industry globally and was in 2017 again ranked as the leading financial city in the world."

Portalevel™ MAX Testing Ammonia Liquid Levels

Customer Feedback on Portalevel™ MAX Marine unit

From one of our customers in the USA this week following use of our ABS Type approved and UL-listed unit :

“Thanks so much for this info ... Thanks again---The Portalevel™ MAX has saved us so much time and maybe one of the best pieces of equipment we have here at JOY.”

Exhibiting at Secutech 2017 in Taiwan

With our thanks to Allen and his team. A wonderful show and demonstration of our CO2, FM-200™ and NOVEC™ 1230 monitoring capabilities.

Postcard from Hong Kong

We have always enjoyed good relations with our Hong Kong customers and hope to strengthen them in 2017. We are delighted to welcome back Hannah in our Marketing & Communications Team who returns from a year in Hong Kong and took this beautiful photograph.

HEADING: Happy Easter from us all at Coltraco Ultrasonics!

UK Maritime Growth Strategy: 2015 Review by Lord Mountevans

It is interesting to look back to Lord Mountevans’ 2015 review on the UK Maritime Growth Strategy to see how this strategy continues today and indeed, is gathering momentum thanks to BREXIT stimulating an interest in joined up government, pushing exports and developing SME trade. Find below extracts from Lord Mountevans’ full response (read here):

The report for the Maritime Growth Study: keeping the UK competitive in a global market is the culmination of many months of work involving widespread engagement and detailed research. The result is a ‘call to arms’ to industry and government to actively support and raise the profile of a vital sector that contributes significantly to the economy and which the nation relies on to meet its daily needs. [sic] However, the sector sometimes appears to be invisible [sic]. The Study is a chance to reverse this state of affairs and highlight a vibrant, global sector comprising various successful industries that can deliver against the government’s stated priorities of rebalancing the economy, enhancing productivity, increasing exports and ‘a Britain standing tall in the world’. [sic] This is a sector rich in SMEs and innovation and one that, with the right conditions, can contribute to enterprise, productivity and both national and regional growth in the UK.

Coltraco at Maritime UK Showcase on the Queen Mary in Shanghai

With our thanks to Mr David Cao GM Coltraco China pictured with The Rt Hon John Hayes CBE MP, Minister of State for Shipping at the Department for Transport, Mr Mark Garnier MP, Minister of State for International Trade and Mr David Dingle CBE, Chairman of Maritime UK/Chairman of Carnival UK at the Maritime UK Showcase in Shanghai today aboard Cunard’s Flagship, the Queen Mary 2. This is the first UK Trade Mission to China focussed entirely on the UK Maritime Sector.

ODA Service Station in Greece

Mr. Timotheos Vossos is our Strategic Partner in Greece, kindly serving the Fire, Marine and Industrial sectors for the full range of Coltraco Ultrasonics products. He is also Chairman of the Hellenic Union of Firefighting Equipment Professionals, a volunteer firefighter and Managing Director of Pronoia Firefighting Equipment, which is the Coltraco ODA Service Station (Organisational Delegated Authority) for Greece, managing Calibration Services, Spare Parts Supply & First Line Repairs for the many units already supporting customers – on land and in the marine sectors – and based in Athens.

Westminster at the Heart of our Country

An extract from our CEO’s address to some Members of Parliament at an All-Party Parliamentary Group yesterday, “I wish to thank our Parliamentarians for the fine example they set during last week’s terrible events. Though ghastly the events of last week reminded us that Parliament is not only at the heart of our democracy, but also at the heart of our culture and Country. Our Parliamentarians are ours alone. There has never been a greater need for them to not only represent but to educate and lead. And during last week they led in their fine example. And a Minister of the Crown went to the aid of the fallen too. We thank you.”

With our thanks to El-Installatoren who are a pleasure to work with. Please find below a positive email we received this morning in response to recently returning their Portalevel® MAX for calibration:

Hi Mary. Thanks for your followup! I did receive your information and it was very helpful for our new servicemen. We are very satisfied with the equipment and it’s function. If we experience any problems ,we will contact you, but at the moment everything is working perfect. Have a nice day! Best regards Roy

El.Installatøren is a supplier of electrical installation with 45 employees. Established with companies in Harstad and Narvik. Also a maritime company, with electricity department and documentation department. As a total supplier possesses El.Installatøren broad expertise. The service works and works on major projects from Narvik to Kirkenes, with good experience and established as a solid business. “We are working for our own motto and hope "You notice the difference" .”http://elinstallatoren.no

Coltraco Ultrasonics are pleased to confirm they as at 22 February 2017 have been awarded ABS TYPE APPROVAL for two of our leading products used in shipping, offshore oil and gas and with navies worldwide. Further supporting our Safeship® solutions designed to improve safety at sea for safety critical and high value assets and infrastructure.

For testing watertight/weathertight seals of hatch-covers, doors, multiple cable transits and more

RINA, ABS

For queries This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Celebrating Commonwealth Day in London

This Commonwealth Day, a baton will set out from Buckingham Palace and begin a long and extraordinary journey. Contained within the baton will be a written message that will be opened and read at the Commonwealth Games in Australia next year. However, there is an even more powerful message to be seen and experienced as the baton passes from hand to hand, from seashore to mountaintop, through cities, towns, and villages. It is the message of a peace-building Commonwealth. The cornerstones on which peace is founded are, quite simply, respect and understanding for one another. Working together, we build peace by defending the dignity of every individual and community. By upholding justice and the rule of law, and by striving for societies that are fair and offer opportunities for all, we overcome division and find reconciliation, so that the benefits of progress and prosperity may be multiplied and shared. As Members of the Commonwealth Family. We can find further reward and fulfilment by continuing to collaborate with others in a spirit of goodwill to build a peaceful and abundant future for all Commonwealth citizens.

Coltraco celebrates International Women’s Day 2017 #BeBoldForChange

We are pleased to share the thoughts of several women in our company on women in business below.

Launch of A New Independent Voice: Fire & Security Matters magazine
from Western Publishing & Events

Rail Industry Fire Conference in Berlin – Feb 2017

With great appreciation to Dr Tony Cash, International President of the Rail Industry Fire Association our CEO attended last week. We are proud of our level monitoring capabilities in Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) fire protection water cylinders used in water mist systems.

Weight & Liquid Level of Clean Agents

Calibrate near you with our worldwide ODA Service Stations

More than Portalevel®: Safesite® range of inspection solutions for Extinguishing & Sprinkler systems

Exhibiting at FSIE 2017 in India

CEO Joins 35th Annual FSSA Forum in Florida

As proud FSSA members we were delighted to join the 35th Annual FSSA Forum this year in Naples, Florida. Our CEO attended and we offer our best wishes to the new President of this wonderful and effective association. We thank the Members for their warm welcomes and for their generosity.

Exhibiting at IDEX & NAVDEX in Dubai – Feb 2017

Captain Peter Machado, Head of Middle East, joined Elcome our ODA Service Station in Dubai and representatives to the GCC Navies at IDEX and NAVDEX last week.

With the Irish Navy in Cork – Feb 2017

We wish to thank the Irish Defence Forces for their utter kindness and courtesy during Henry’s visit to Cork this week. We offer them our fullest design, installation, maintenance and through-life support.

CEO invited to educate the IMO (International Maritime Organisation) on “Ultrasonics Now and the Future” with regard to 1. Fire Safety & 2. Watertight Integrity

Coltraco Ultrasonics was invited to speak at the IMO by the Antigua and Barbuda Marine Services (ADOMS) (Monday 13th February 2017) at the IMO HQ, London. This was an honour and privilege for Dr Carl Hunter BA (Hons), FRINA, FIMarEST, Hon DSc, CEO & MD and Miss Clare Hunter, Head of Marketing & Communications who were invited to present. Invited by the Antigua & Barbuda Marine Services delegation who recognises two key issues in which Coltraco are experts worldwide today onboard vessels:

the recognition that although there are adequate regulations in place, they are commonly misunderstood, misinterpreted, blatantly disregarded, neglected - this leads to increased risk and thus cost in the event of fire, even risking safety of life at sea

education at all levels to implement the regulations

issues of watertight integrity to be discussed, tied in with room integrity testing

new ultrasonic technologies are now available to go above and beyond current regulations

Improving Navies’ Safety & Survivability and Damage Control is at our core.

Defence solutions are at our core. See us at NAVDEX, Dubai 19-23 February with ELCOME our GCC Naval Partner @ UAE Pavilion, Stands 12-E31 and E30.

Supporting UK Government Maritime Growth Strategy

Speaking at the International Maritime Organisation

We are grateful to the President of the IMO for the opportunity for our Head of communications and CEO to speak before the General Assembly and Maritime Safety Committee of the IMO in London to explore the opportunities to contribute to ship safety and to explore the development of the IMO SOLAS Convention. We are most grateful to Captain Christopher Balls.

CEO Elected to Council of RINA - Feb 2017

We are grateful and honoured to the Members, Fellows and Chief Executive of The Royal Institution of Naval Architects for kindly electing Dr Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter FRINA to the Council of RINA.

WAGNER UK and Coltraco Clean Agent Constant Monitoring System Teaming

The WAGNER Group GmbH has been developing and producing technical fire protection systems since 1976 and has established itself internationally as an innovative provider of solutions and systems. Its high quality and constant strive for fire safety perfection drive innovation and resulting in over 700 patents. WAGNER is a global technology leader in the field of fire detection and prevention based on four system focal points: Fire Detection (TITANUS®), Fire Prevention (OxyReduct®), Fire Extinguishing (FirExting®) and Risk Management (VisuLAN®), used in IT, storage and logistics, archives, museums, offices/administrative buildings, manufacturing, railway vehicles, hotels guaranteeing optimal fire protection. With 500 employees with a network of subsidiaries in Germany the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Russia, Switzerland, Singapore, and the USA. We are proud to be teaming with WAGNER UK to bring PERMALEVEL™ MULTIPLEX into their range to constantly monitor customer FM-200™ and NOVEC™ 1230 clean agent systems. Mr Brett Stringer, Technical Manager for Extinguishing Systems at Wagner UK says PERMALEVEL™ MULTIPLEX will, “raise the bar in terms of protection for critical IT infrastructure closer to the level attained in the offshore sector with complex accessibility issues, making it necessary to provide fire prevention solutions that will work regardless of when emergency teams arrive. We are proud to be working with Coltraco.” Our CEO Mr Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter says, “It is our pleasure to be working with Wagner UK - a global leader in fire engineering and systems – in the constant monitoring of clean agent systems with Permalevel™ Multiplex.”

Invited to All Party Parliamentary Group

We are honoured and proud to be invited to speak to Members of Parliament and attended our first meeting with Clare, Head of Communications last week.

Portagauge™3 Thickness Gauge Testing UK Telecommunications

Our customer is a leading provider of engineering services to the telecommunications industry. They are using Portagauge™3 the leading single echo thickness gauge working directly for some of the major operators and owners of masts and towers in the UK. Here is one of them in Scotland.

Extracts taken from article by Captain Richard Madden, The Maritime Executive – 12th February 2017

There have been two disabling engine room fires in the past month. The first was MV Alliance St. Louis, a RO-RO in the Gulf of Mexico and the most recent was MV Thorco Crown, a multi-purpose vessel, off Newfoundland. Both incidents resulted in the vessels being disabled, requiring commercial towing assistance to reach port.

It is time, yet again, to review some of the best practices for preventing fires onboard - in particular, in the engine room. Chances are, your monthly SMS inspection and drills checklist has a box for exactly this check-mark. Use the time and talk about the items below. Take a walk around your main space and see what might be slipping through the cracks - literally and figuratively. Or, will you be the third ship?

4. Properly maintain and use fire screen doors. Quite frequently, fire screen doors are tied open to allow easy passage during daily duties. Unfortunately, they are also frequently left that way day after day. Even tying them open for a short period of time should be avoided, as fires can happen at the most inopportune time – such as when the fire screen door is tied open.

8. Inspect and test fixed firefighting systems on a routine basis. Systems such as sprinkler or HI-FOG systems must be maintained in a mode where they will be automatically activated. Too often, they are found with valves closed after maintenance or due to concerns about leakage.

Visiting Fire Investigations UK and BRE Global

We wish to thank Dr Peter Mansi FIFireE MCSFS MIAAI IAAI-CFI IAAI-ECT of Fire Investigations UK and Dr David Crowder of BRE Global for a wonderful visit to the Building Research Establishment and the impressive facilities of FI-UK

Meeting UK Chamber of Shipping

Our CEO held a most enjoyable meeting with former Master Mariner and CEO of the UK Chamber of Shipping Mr Guy Platten today. We take this opportunity to extend our best wishes to Ms Terry Cooper Executive Assistant to the CEO who has served the UK Chamber of Shipping for 29 years.

Visit to UMW Equipment Division in Malaysia

Adrian Saw, Manager Research & Development visited the eminent Mr Lee Chin Min, President of UMW Equipment Division, our Strategic Partner, Fire Safety in Malaysia to convey our CEO’s best wishes for a Happy Chinese New Year in the Year of the Rooster. Discussions focussed on our FM-200™ & NOVEC™ 1230 clean agent constant monitoring system Permalevel™ Multiplex and Portascanner™ 520 our Room Integrity monitoring system with Desmond and his team in Kuala Lumpur today.

At the UK Chamber of Shipping – 101 Years of British Ultrasound – 7th Feb 2017

Mr Philip Rutnam the Permanent Secretary of the Department of Transport spoke compellingly on behalf of the Minister for Shipping at the annual dinner of the UK Chamber of Shipping in London. The UK maritime sector employs over 360,000 people and generates GBP 19 BN to the economy. We applaud and support UK Government efforts to work “as one” with the UK maritime sector as the UK implements a Global and Maritime Strategy. Coltraco celebrates 101 years of ultrasound and are at the forefront of UK efforts to monitor shipboard fire safety and vessel stability systems in watertight and protected space integrity. We thank Mr Guy Platten, CEO of the UK Chamber of Shipping and his fine Events Team.

Pronoia – our Strategic Partner and ODA Service Station Opens in Greece

It is with great pleasure that we announce the opening of our ODA Service Station in Greece and the commencement of our Strategic Partnership to serve the Marine, Naval and Fire Safety markets in Greece. Henry concluded our agreement with Mr Timos Vossos, Managing Director, during his visit to glorious Athens. Pronoia was established in 1936 and is certified by LPCB, UL and FM. Our ideal partner in Greece sharing our family values and commitment to innovation. In fire safety Pronoia will manage our distribution network and install, commission, maintain and calibrate our technologies in the constant and portable monitoring of Gaseous Extinguishing Systems and their Room Integrity. Across the Marine sector Pronoia will support sales and deliver technical support and calibration services for our range of IMO compliant fire safety units and our range watertight integrity monitoring products and systems for ship owners and the Classification Society and independent marine surveying communities.

Our New Advert for Constant Monitoring of Gas & Room Integrity

Our New Advert for Portable Fire Safety Products

RINA Technical Paper Published in London - Jan 17

The Royal Institution of Naval Architects has 14,000 members globally in 90 countries and dedicated to the design, construction, maintenance and operation of Marine, Offshore and Naval vessels and marine structures. This week RINA have published our paper at the London Smart Ships Conference titled “The Ungoverned Space of Marine Fire Safety Engineering”. Coltraco aims to engineer the Safeship™ in regard to the IMO SOLAS compliant monitoring of its CO2, FM-200™ & NOVEC™ systems and the integrity of its Protected Spaces through Portascanner™ to contain the suppressant gases on discharge at the point of fire event. We thank the CEO, Governing Council, Fellows and Members of RINA for this publication.

Intersec 2017: Success for Coltraco Middle East!

This year proved another success, introducing our Director Middle East, Captain Peter Machado, to the industry. Together with our Director of Sales, George, and Head of Marketing & Communications, Clare, we were pleased to welcome customers new and old. From our origins in Portalevel®, to today we have a more comprehensive range of products and monitoring systems for fire safety:

Constant monitoring systems of liquefied and non-liquefied gaseous extinguishing systems as well as Room Integrity.

With thanks also to Andreas Rex and the Messe Frankfurt team who organise Intersec.

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UK Chamber of Shipping – January 2017

We were grateful to attend the Lord Lamont address on the EU at the UK Chamber of Shipping this week in London. A wonderful event by the Chambers fine team and its CEO.

CEO Fellow of The Royal Institution of Naval Architects in London Conference Jan 2017

Speaking at the London Smartship™ conference in Whitehall London today our CEO spoke of the Ungoverned Space in Marine & Offshore Fire Safety, the need for Shipping to implements its IMO obligations and implement ISO regulations to an international audience of Naval & Shipping professionals from UK, USA, Europe and Asia and using our place at the heart of Safeship™ vessel stability and Watertight Integrity in the Royal Navy and our commitment to support US Safety & Survivability and UK Damage Control expertise and explaining the UK’s global place with our maritime strategy at its centre.

Captain Peter Machado is an industry veteran and Master Mariner and was also one of our first Fleet users of Portascanner™ Watertight when he was with Kuwait Livestock and Trading saying, “COLTRACO’s Portascanner™ is the product that I am happy to endorse having used the product for many years in the challenging environment of large livestock carriers. Watertight integrity was and remains critical as the most recent conversions have been car carriers, container ships and tankers. Portascanner™ is portable, easy to carry and use, and more importantly, very efficient. It is a rugged. Aspects include purchase price at good value, good warranty terms, the availability of spares and service stations at major hub ports.” Including now our ODA Service Stations in Dubai, Singapore, London, Miami, Bombay and Calcutta for repairs & calibrations.

Elected to British Marine Equipment Association Council Jan 2017

It is with great kindness that the BMEA have elected us to their Council.

This market area is the focus for SMI’s interface with UK and international shipyards and ship owning communities associated with the building and operations of cargo vessels, container ships, tankers, bulk carriers, LNG carriers, FPSOs, passenger/car ferries, ro-ros, fast ships, superyachts and cruise liners and exhibiting at major international trade shows such as Asia Pacific Maritime, Kormarine, Marintec, Nor-Shipping, Posidonia and SMM and supporting inward trade missions of international ship owners and shipyard personnel to attend presentations in the UK by marine equipment and service firms. The BMEA Council sets the policy and guides the activities of this market area, utilising the extensive expertise of its members and we are grateful to Mr John murray CEO and the Members of the SMI in supporting and enabling us to join the BMEA Council.

Amerex Integrated gives a remote diagnostic capability to the Permalevel® SINGLE POINT. Permalevel® SINGLE POINT is a fixed ultrasonic system to continuously monitor the level of liquefied gaseous agent non-invasively and non-destructively within cylinders of fire extinguishing systems. With Amerex Integrated’s connectivity, users can check that their fire systems are fully operational at all times, giving peace of mind and added value reporting. This new addition compliments Coltraco’s existing system, Permalevel® MULTIPLEX, which has remote diagnostic and remote monitoring capabilities embedded within its design. This is providing an additional solution for customers in high value and safety critical environments, protecting assets and human life by giving true visibility as to the fire systems which are currently left relatively neglected except for 6 monthly inspections.

Amerex Integrated is a world-leading manufacturer of a range of extinguishing systems. With an excellent reputation for quality products and systems there were clear synergies between the two companies. Learn more at amerex-fire.com and coltraco.com/news.

The government is urging businesses to make 2017 the year of exporting as it encourages them to seek new markets and seize the demand for British goods and services. International Trade Secretary, Liam Fox says “UK businesses have the knowledge, skills and expertise to truly add value and make the UK a partner of choice.” “We are world-leaders in many sectors such as financial services and technology.” “We have a real opportunity to build on this country’s wide range of successful exports, reach out to new markets and help more businesses achieve their exporting potential.

Happy New Year to all our friends, partners & customers from our CEO!

Coltraco’s CEO is taking a well deserved New Year break in Gibraltar. A country with a long history and connections with the UK, a strategic importance in the Mediterranean.

Feedback from USA Customer about Portalevel

George,

Thank you for your very prompt response and I hope you had a nice Christmas as well.

Wow! That is very generous of you to send me some stickers I am very impressed with your customer service and will definitely pass along great remarks about you and Coltraco. Let me know if there is any cost, shipping etc. I really would like to use the Coltraco stickers, my big inspection is not until February so no need to rush ship them.

Like I said in my initial email I use a Portalevel Max that we have had for almost 2 years now. Mostly I use it on 100Lbs CO2 cylinders for Fire Suppression systems. A lot of these systems are in places like Chip manufacturing Clean rooms were it is difficult to either move cylinders or get a scale in to weigh them. Our Portalevel has worked great, most of the cylinders we inspect at our larger customers are very similar in steel thickness and are with in 6 to 10 years in mfg. dates so it is fairly easy to determine the level of every cylinder. We have also used our Portalevel on Halon and FM-200 tanks in several site were the tanks have no liquid levels indicators and are mounted in difficult places like above equipment and above ceilings of Data Centers for an example. There have only been a few older tanks when I have had a question on my readings, I figure it is probably due to a steel thickness or weld issue. At my previous Employer a had used the earlier model Portalevel, and had the cable to the sensor head come out of the twist lock coupling. My guess from is that happened from abuse, techs holding the Portalevel by the cable or not twisting the coupling enough before unplugging. Other than that it has been a great tool and has saved thousands of dollars in labor costs.

Thanks again.

Chuck.

Hose Testing or Portascanner™ Watertight Hatch Cover Testing ?

EU Directive 2009/45/EC of 6/05/2009 like SOLAS, allows a “careful visual inspection” of the welding connections, supplemented by ultrasonic test or other types of leak test, where the use of a hose test may cause a damage to machinery, electrical equipment, insulation or outfitting items. Allows using the ultrasonic test where hose testing is not practical (Lloyd’s Register, Rules and Regulations for Classification of Ships, July 2016, 3/1/9). Thus, the Portascanner™ ultrasonic test can be used for ships in the same situations as provided by SOLAS: where the use of flooding and hose testing is impractical.

Hatch Cover Testing with Portascanner™ Watertight

Captain J. F. Holmes, Master Mariner “Portascanner™ II .. undergoes a hard life in a tough environment.. the updated [Decibel and Linear] readout and software permits a .. definitive execution of the testing weather deck closing devices. Portascanner™ II .. gives us the professional edge to offer a complete service to Ship Owners and Time Charterers”. Class-approved and ISO 17025 calibration-compliant Portascanner™ Watertight is portable, simple to use and determine the size of the leak, unlike other leak tests. Designed for hatch covers, watertight doors & multiple cable transits. SOLAS does not simply require the surface to be simply watertight, but able to remain watertight under specific pressure. EU Directive 2009/45/EC requires a weekly inspection of all watertight doors while passenger vessel are at sea (Regulation 24.3). Portascanner™ provides for both safety and convenience of passengers. All loading doors and exposed hatch-covers are to be closed watertight before the ship leaves for high seas (46 CFR, 97.15-17; 97.15-20).

Happy 2017 from Head of Marketing & Communications

Congratulations indeed on a splendid year to all our customers, suppliers, professional organisations and editors. We wish you a very Happy New Year.

FIA Export Council

We wish Members of the Fire Industry Association Export Council a Happy New Year.

Congratulations to Her Majesty

We wish all Congratulations to HM the Queen in her 90th year and the inspirational Prince of Wales.

Celebrating ADOMS 30 years IMO Membership

We were honoured to be invited to celebrate 30 years of IMO Membership for Antigua and Barbuda by the Department of Marine Services and Merchant Shipping (ADOMS), the Maritime Administration of Antigua and Barbuda. Committed as they are to maintaining a quality clientele in an international and highly competitive marketplace. Held at the headquarters of the International Maritime Organisation in London we wish to thank the impressive High Commissioner for Antigua and Barbuda and the Director of ADOMS and her key staff who have so kindly supported our contribution to maritime safety.

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Testing R507 Refrigerant on Ships

Interesting week testing Portalevel™ MAX and R507 on an LNG Carrier.

Constant Monitoring of Gaseous Systems is Needed

It is not just us saying it. The industry needs it.

Marketing Team

We wish a very Merry Christmas to Clare, Mary, Chloe, Hannah and the Marketing & Communications Team who enter 2017 with an array of successes from this year in their work creating the environment in which we can articulate our Science and Technologies with Professional organisations, Editorial teams, at Corporate and industry events and in their stellar work in support of our globally-leading Customers and British Government departments and agencies at home and overseas.

Fire risk grows as ships get bigger

Fairplay Daily Newswire publish evidence that fire safety is not fully comprehensive onboard all ships currently. “Firefighting equipment available on board containerships has not developed as vessel size has increased, and the marine insurance industry wants to do something about it.” Coltraco Ultrasonic’s Safesite® mission is committed to developing fixed continuous monitoring systems and inspection products to improve safety at sea. Talking to Owners, Managers, P&I Clubs and Marine Surveyors is an important part of Coltraco’s mission to protect life, assets and vessel. Click here to read more.

CEO Elected as Fellow of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects

It is with great pleasure that our CEO has been made a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects in London. Founded in 1860 and incorporated by Royal Charter in 1910, 'We, who are present, do now constitute ourselves an Institution of Naval Architects for the purpose of advancing the science and art of Naval Architecture'. The Naval Architect's professional skill lies in the resolution of numerous conflicting problems, for he or she alone is fundamentally responsible for the ship as a whole. We thank the President, Chief Executive and Officers of RINA for this Fellowship to our CEO. Our CEO wishes to thank our Company too.

Elected to Council of the British Naval Equipment Association

The BNEA is dedicated to British Naval and Maritime Defence companies, which build, refit and modernise warships, supply weapons, sensor systems and other naval equipment. The Association’s Council comprises 18 senior industry leaders. This week our CEO was pleased to accept the kind invitation to join Captain Christopher McHugh, Director of the British Naval Equipment Association Council. For 20 years Coltraco has been proudly working with the Royal Navy in vessel stability and watertight integrity supporting surface and sub-surface vessels with BAE, Babcock, BMT and others. With our monitoring systems embedded in the Safety Management Systems for fire safety and watertight integrity. We will be joining the SMI Annual Conference at the Britannia Royal Naval College Dartmouth.

UK - SOUTH KOREA OFFSHORE ENGINEERING PARTNERING EVENT

We are proud to be speaking at this event on 29th November 2016 in London. South Korea has been one of partner nations for many years and we are grateful to the DIT for this opportunity.

SDi Fire in the USA

We wish a very Happy Thanksgiving to our friends and customers in the USA and particularly Rick, Joe and Brandon and their families. Our USA Partner SDi focuses on innovation over imitation, variety over exclusivity and quality over inferiority. Their products are higher in quality and more durable than those from competitors, so you never have to worry about receiving an inferior product. Experience the quality and dedication of SDi, LLC for yourself. At http://sdifire.com/fire-suppression-testing-tools/

Tanker Safety Award Nomination – November 2017

We are very proud to have been nominated to for the Tanker Shipping Innovation Award 2017 in London for our work in monitoring gaseous extinguishing systems. Our CEO was invited to speak at the conference saying, “Our commitment to excellence in Gaseous Extinguishing and Protected Space monitoring across global Tanker Shipping is due to the very many fine young people we have in our company and we thank you for the guidance and advice we have received from you, the many Master Mariners and Marine Engineers in the industry who have supported our R&D.”

New Video by Fire Risk Consultancy Limited

It is with great pleasure that we release the new video produced by Mr David Ware BEng(Hons) FIFireE MIFSM MIFPO and founder of the FRC Fire Academy

Presenting at the Rail Industry Fire Association

We were very proud to present to the President, Chairman, Executive Committee and Members of RIFA last week at the Headquarters of London Underground. Joined by delegates from Network Rail, Cross Rail, Merseyrail, Arup, Atkins, London Fire Brigade and senior Fire Consultants we explored the ungoverned space in the constant monitoring of pressurised gaseous extinguishing systems and the opportunities to bring to public attention the efforts to secure fire safety in rail, light rail and metro rail systems. We wish to thank Dr Tony Cash, President of RIFA for this opportunity.

In Operation at Dungeness Power Station B

Portalevel® will be used within the maintenance and inspection of the fire suppression system at Dungeness Power Station B, UK. Dungeness is a nuclear power station on the south coast of England with 2 advanced gas-cooled reactors. It supplies 1050MW to the national grid, generating enough power to serve some 1.5million homes in this region to 730,000 customers with over 20% opting for low-carbon generation products (SOURCE). EDF Energy is committed to safety at the heart of everything they do, working towards a "Zero Harm" environment. We are proud to be a small part of this.

Marine, Offshore & Naval Capability Infographic

Ford is working to recover after a fire broke out at a power sub-station beneath its US corporate headquarters, briefly shutting down data center operations and prevented it from gathering sales data. Full story & source here.

GREAT Exporting & British Innovation – video coming soon

Our company video will be coming soon! In the interim, do watch two videos that we have selected as brilliant examples of British innovators leading in exporting. Sources & credit to Associated British Ports for “Maritime Nation” and Burberry for “The Tale of Thomas Burberry”.

Invited to the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Maritime and Ports

With great honour and at the invitation of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Maritime and Ports, and with thanks to Clare, our amazing Head of Communications & Government Relations, we attended the annual session of the AAPGMP in Select Committee Room 16 at the House of Commons last week. Chaired by the Rt Hon Jim Fitzpatrick MP the meeting was addressed by the Rt Hon John Hayes MP, Minister for Shipping who , speaking to the worshipful Company of Shipwrights earlier this month in London said something we wholly support, “On your shoulders rests Britain’s future as the world’s leading maritime nation. If, 100 years from now, we are still to be famous as the country that builds, repairs and maintains the finest vessels that sail the seas; if we are still to be renowned as the home of shipbuilding genius and skill; and if we are still to be celebrated as the nation that leads the world’s maritime affairs, it will be because those in this room today seized the opportunity to learn, to train, and to excel at everything you do.”

GM China Visits Customers in China

Mr David Cao, General Manager Coltraco, China has held meetings with Fire safety Managers at the Bank of China, Shanghai Unicom, Shanghai Jundong, The Three Gorge Museum, ChongQing Fire Brigade, Ford China, Volkswagen China , and attended the First China Building Fire Technology Conferenence in Beijing.

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Supporting our customers directly in 108 countries!

As a global company we thrive on exporting around the world. We are always delighted when we succeed in new markets and welcome working more in the African continent in 2016-2017 with our network developing in Nigeria and elsewhere. We already have equipment in Angola operating with leading oil and gas EPCs and now pleased to add marine servicing companies to this.

Coltraco Intellectual Property Upheld in Chinese Courts – Oct 2016

We are proud to announce that the Beijing Courts have upheld two landmark cases of our IP being infringed in China last week. We believe this to be an example that British companies operating in China may have confidence in the Chinese legal system.

Committed to Gas Carrier Fleet

We are proud to have been shortlisted for the Tanker Shipping Award in Innovation this year. Our work in Gas Carriers is a great honour for us.

Sea Safety Services USA – Tug & Barge Partner in the USA

It is with great pleasure that Sea Safety Services Inc. in the Port of New York are becoming our partners in the Tug & Barge market sector of the USA marine industry. Sea Safety have been using our Portalevel™ MAX Marine units for their marine servicing teams for many years and the wonderful Mr Peter O’Shea of Sea Safety met with George and our CEO at SMM Hamburg 2016 . Sea Safety is a distributor for Ansul Fire Protection, Kidde Fire Systems and NK Fire Systems.

Shipbuilders & Ship-repairers Association AGM at the House of Commons – Oct 2016

Our CEO had the honour to join the Shipbuilders and Ship-repairers Association (SSA) at the House of Commons for the Annual General Meeting this month meeting fellow members and new professionals.

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Fire Protection Association London Summit 2017

Clare and our CEO exhibited at the FPA Fire Sector Summit held at the Royal College of Surgeons in London this week, and presented a paper to FPA delegates on the need to apply Mathematics in the Ungoverned Space of Fire Engineering, Pressurisation & Constant Monitoring of Gaseous Extinguishing Systems. We wish to thank Mr Mark Sennett of the FPA for his kind and fine arrangements. The Fire Protection Association is the UK's national fire safety organisation. For images from the event please see https://www.flickr.com/photos/fireprotectionassociation/albums/72157674382450182

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Commitment to Chinese Market Secures further Trademark Success

We are thrilled to announce the good news of two further Trademark successes we have filed in China. We are committed to the Chinese market so it is gratifying to see the Chinese courts protect our Intellectual Property rights over and above a local Chinese company who tried misappropriating our brand names.

CEO Joins All-Parliamentary Group at House of Lords Dinner

We were honoured that our CEO was invited to represent the UK Fire Industry Association at a dinner at the House of Lords in London this week. We have great respect for the FIA and its CEO Mr Ian Moore and for Sir Ken Knight, Senior Advisor to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Fire Safety and wish to express our appreciation to Sir Neil Thorne, Chairman of the Fire Service Parliamentary Scheme for his kindness and courtesy.

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Being part of the UK Maritime Growth Strategy

We are pleased to see the British Government engaging with the UK Maritime Growth Study. Shipping transports over 95% of global trade and London is at the heart of international shipping in insurance, admiralty law, the IMO, ship design, classification societies, and marine equipment. We are grateful to be part of this through the Society of Maritime Industries whose CEO Mr John Murray has been of great support. Organised by Maritime London and the City of London Corporation the ‘Charting the way ahead to Maritime Growth’ event was held on 3 October 2016 at Mansion House and hosted by the Lord Mayor of the City of London and Lord Mountevans, Maritime London Chairman.

Mr Raphael Francis, Head of Operations, Singapore - October 2016

It was with great pleasure that Mr Raphael Francis, Head of Operations in Singapore and our CEO met with industry friends in Singapore. As our Permalevel Multiplex constant monitoring technology of clean agent fire extinguishing systems becomes embedded into the fabric of the fire industry we wish to thank our industry friends in Singapore for their support and expertise in its development.

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Raffles in Singapore

Raffles Hotel has played a central part in the development of our presence in Singapore. From our days supporting Singapore Airlines Engineering through to our many Shipping & Ship Management customers and recently the establishment of our Head of Operations in Singapore with Mr Raphael Francis and the Singapore ODA Service & Training Station that is now operational, Raffles Hotel has always been the centre around which our CEO has always led our Singapore and ASEAN future.

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3 Ways to Improve Fire Safety in Power Generating Stations

It is common knowledge that power generating facilities are safety critical and extremely high value assets. As a result, there is a great focus on business continuity due to the pressures and costs incurred due to accidents, faults, fires, or other temporary outage disruption. Here are 3 ways we have helped these businesses and will do in the future:

CONTINUOUS MONITORING: Our first ever made-to-order fixed, permanent, continuous monitoring system was for Sellafield Nuclear Power Generation Plant in the UK over 12 years ago.

MORE FREQUENT INSPECTIONS OF FIRE SYSTEMS: Currently there is a major power generation player in the USA keen to Portalevel® MAX following a recommendation by leading insurers, FM Global. We are in discussions with several leading power generation companies in North America who will be serviced and supported by our American Strategic Partners.

INTEGRATED REAL-TIME MONITORING OF FIRE SYSTEMS: Now we offer this Safesite® smart solution so the facilities safety manager will be instantly alerted in the case of agent leak, to ensure the system’s integrity.

Here are some extracts from an interesting article on electric generation stations from PowerMag to illustrate. “Occurrences at Thermalito Power Plant (California) in 2012, Detroit Dam (Oregon) in 2007, and Watts Bar Hydroelectric Plant (Tennessee) in 2002 resulted in major electrical fires. In almost all cases, the fires caused forced shutdowns, some for a year or more. The loss of generation as the result of an electrical fire often outweighs the actual fire damage.” [sic]“Even after a relatively small fire, smoke and soot removal can cost several millions of dollars in facilities with large open spaces. For example, cleanup costs at Thermalito were reported at approximately $90 million, with a total cost of the fire around $200 million. SOURCE. Here are further extracts taken from PowerMag: “Hydro plants are not without fire risk, and history reminds us that large-loss fires have occurred (see table). SOURCE

Commitment to Success Across Asia - October 2016

It was with pleasure that our CEO and Raphael met with partners in Singapore and Malaysia recently including Archer Fire in Singapore, UMW in Malaysia and Orient in Singapore. We have a total commitment to mutual success with our partners across Asia.

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Annual Calibration Satisfaction thanks to Coltraco Customer Care

This hardy Portamarine® unit has been used for training Petrofac’s fire servicing teams in Aberdeen for years! Coltraco Customer Care ensures that even if your unit is one of our first generation models from almost 30 years ago, you will receive premium support from our teams to recalibrate, repair, replace parts, or offer trade in discounts for a new model.

Petrofac are also highlighting a key question we often get asked: “Do I need annual calibration or can I just get a 5 year calibration certificate?” We do not mandate that you get your unit returned for calibration every year, because it is up to the standards that your company operate by. However, as it is safety and measuring equipment, the international standards recommend annual certification. 5 years is not accepted by most audits. To help, we are setting up ODA Service Stations around the globe and provide 48 hour turnaround for most units. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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Coltraco & Metro Rail Systems

We are proud to be speaking at the Rail Industry Fire Association in London next month. We are committed to deliver constant monitoring of clean agent extinguishing systems in urban metro rail systems in the UK, USA and Asia.

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Exhibiting at RAF Cosford with the FIA

Our first Ministry of Defence sales of Portalevel™ were to RAF Swanton Morley for their UK military aircraft engine test houses. We are active members of the Fire Industry Association and it was with great pleasure that Carl and Henry exhibited at the FIA’s FIM Expo at RAF Cosford this week. We wish to thank the FIA’s CEO, Mr Ian Moore, for his kindness and support and to the FIA personnel who arranged the event.

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British Shipbuilders & Ship Repairers in Parliament

We thank the SSA for their great kindness in inviting our CEO to lunch with the Board of the SSA and Maritime UK at the House of Commons yesterday. The UK is the global centre for the maritime industry in a wide range of services and we are committed to support the Maritime Growth Strategy.

NDC 2016 is the premier UK conference for Naval, Maritime Support and Damage Control manufacturers. With new Royal Naval shipbuilding and procurement programmes fitting ships with the most up to date systems, we were proud that George Hunter led our teaming at the show with Mr Peter Litchfield of CSD Sealing Systems.

Another fantastic year at IMPA London - Oct 2016!

We would like to thank the IMPA Council and Alexony for organising another fantastic IMPA London show. Based in Westminster, this is a good opportunity to meet industry friends and peers to discuss the market situation and highlight trends. We are pleased to be part of the trend of increasing safety and maintenance for the sake of safety - going above and beyond regulations. By providing a range of inspection tools and continuous monitoring systems, we work closely with our ship owners, managers and servicing companies to provide efficient Safeship® solutions, whilst improving safety management onboard. Marine servicing companies very often become our distributors and as many IMPA members will know Marine supply companies too. Furthermore, we are pleased to promote women in shipping, following the lead of our IMPA Chairwoman and other women in industry. We look forward to 2017.

Manager Research & Development

It is with great pleasure that we warmly welcome Mr Adrian Saw to the company as our Manager Research & Development. Adrian began working with the company through a Summer Internship and this Summer graduated from the University of Durham with a Masters of Science.

Our CEO says, "We are proud and grateful to warmly welcome Adrian to the company. Working with Physicist and Head of Research & Development, Mr Sam Watson, we hope that Adrian will bring his fine analytical and innovative skills to the role and find happiness and success with us. Adrian has already delivered fine work to the company through his dedication and commitment and he combines this with wonderful family values and kindness.

Sam and I are delighted to welcome Adrian and look forward to supporting him over the months and years to come."

FIA Export Council

Our CEO Dr Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter wrote a paper for the Council on Brexit and its implications for UK Exporters. He says, “Have faith in your Country and do for it the service that it deserves, and from you particularly so, as the educated leaders of tomorrow whom you are, by now falling in behind the nations decision and leading this country’s export success.”

We are honoured to have our R&D recognised by shortlisting our Portasteele® Calculator for the “Technical Innovation Award” by Tanker Shipping & Trade. You have the opportunity to vote for the winner so, if you feel we deserve this award in full, please vote for us here.

Join us at FIA FIM Expo & FPA Fire Sector Summit – October 2016

As part of our commitment to improving fire safety, please join us at the following exhibitions in the UK: FIA FIM Expo 12 Oct. & FPA Fire Sector Summit 17-18 Oct. You will have the opportunity to see live demonstrations of our Portalevel® MAX and our Portasteele® Calculator. RSVP This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The procedures and safe working systems that lie at the core of all safety management systems are there for a reason, says Steve Clinch, Chief Inspector of Marine Accidents at Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB). “[…] MAIB investigators regularly identify a disconnect between the safety culture that shore-based managers believe (or perhaps hope) is in place within their fleet and what is really happening on board.

Safety management systems need to evolve over time if they are to remain credible. If the procedures on board your vessel are not working, don’t just use convenient work arounds to get tasks done – flag up the problem and make sure they are changed or amended in a controlled way that ensures the system retains its credibility and continues to reflect the company’s best practice requirements.

In the digest, Captain John Rose, Director of the Confidential Hazardous Incident Reporting Program (CHIRP) highlights the importance of crew’s ability to deal effectively and safely with the complexity, difficulty, pressures and workload of their daily tasks, not only in emergency situations, but also during routine operations.

CEO Visits UMW Industrial Power Sdn Bhd in Malaysia

Our CEO is delighted to be spending time in Malaysia with our new Strategic Partner in the Fire Safety sector, UMW. We are proud to confirm the new partnering with UMW Industrial Power Sdn Bhd (UMW) as our Fire Safety Partner. The UMW Group is a leading Industrial Enterprise with diverse and global interest in the Automotive, Equipment, Manufacturing and Engineering, and Oil and Gas Industries with 7 branches in Malaysia. We see this exciting teaming as a reflection of the long historical and strong trading ties between the United Kingdom and Malaysia.

Our CEO Dr Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter says, “I greatly admire UMW Industrial Power Sdn Bhd and the President of UMW Equipment Division Mr Lee Chin Win and am grateful for UMW wishing to become our exclusive Strategic Partner, Fire Safety in Malaysia to encompass all of our products for the fire sector but primarily our fixed monitoring system Permalevel™ Multiplex for high asset value customers seeking to secure risk mitigation of their clean agent systems and business continuity and to become our ODA Service Station for its installation and maintenance in 2017.”

President of UMW Equipment Division: Mr Lee Chin Min says: “UMW Industrial Power Sdn Bhd is proud to be a business partner with Coltraco Ultrasonic Limited to deliver the latest Safesite & Safeship monitoring system technologies to the Malaysian customers at critical infrastructure on land and at sea. We are truly honoured to work with Coltraco to enhance and strengthen the safety performance at these infrastructures in Malaysia.”

Mr Desmond Lin, Senior Manager UMW says, “We enjoyed a great meeting and shared the history and business structure of UMW with Dr Hunter… I am looking forward to great business opportunities between UMW and Coltraco.”

It is with great pleasure that our CEO visited Mr Jimmy Wong and his fine team at Malaysian Oil and Gas in Kuala Lumpur this week. Keisha Marine operate marine service and supply offices across West and East Malaysia and began with us asa customer of our Portamarine liquid level indicators whilst servicing ships CO2 systems. Today Keisha Marine are our exclusive Marine Partners for our marine product range in the Malaysian marine sector and supported by Head of Operations in Singapore, Mr Raphael Francis.

Mr Jimmy Wong, CEO of Keisha Marine says, “On behalf of Keisha Marine I would like to say thank Dr Hunter and the team at Coltraco for supporting us at this important exhibition and bring to the Malaysian marine market your safety instrumentation and products.”

Our CEO Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter says, " I have great confidence in Mr Jimmy Wong who is a dynamic and visionary leader in the marine industry in Malaysia. I wish to thank Jimmy, Carol, Kenny and Eddie for their kindness and for our wonderful dinner at the Mandarin Oriental in KL. We have great confidence in the fine future of Malaysia; the links between our countries are strong and the ties between our companies have been made even stronger this week at Malaysian Oil and Gas."

Coltraco's CEO Mr CSP Hunter says: "A busy week at Fire India 2016 with many thanks to Amit, Rushina and Karin. There was great interest in our Portalevel® MAX LIVE demonstrations as well as our NEW range of products including PortapipeTM, PortscannerTM ISO 14520. India's fire safety community enjoys learning about how our SafesiteTM Smart Solutions can enable them to improve inspections with accuracy and efficiency. Learning about the regulations pertaining to our equipment, especially for marine servicing companies at sea keen to comply with IMO SOLAS FSS Codes by using our Portalevel® and Portamarine®."

Portalevel™ MAX Marine & Portasteele™ Calculator in Marine Industry

Anglo-Italian Partnership

Our CEO has just returned from Italy to develop our Anglo-Italian partnership. Our Strategic Partner in Italy is Mr Alberto Faravelli and based in Genoa. We see great opportunity in Italy across the Marine and Fire Safety sectors for our range of portable products and monitoring systems. It has been agreed that Alberto will also support business development in France and Switzerland on a project basis.

Coltraco GM China Speaks at Shanghai International Shipping Week

It is with great pleasure that Mr David Cao, General Manager Fire Safety, China presented at the Shanghai International Shipping Conference. We wish to thank the team at the British Embassy in Beijing, the fine British civil servants at UKTI and the Department of International Trade and the Chinese shipping community for kindly supporting our commitment to China specifically and across Asia generally.

Coltraco exhibiting at Fire India, South in Chennai next week 21-22 September with our Fire Safety Partner Capt Amit from Intime Fire.

Commitment to Asia – Sept 2016

We are delighted to be working with exceptional MBA Graduates such as Ms Wendy Lee, featured here with Head of Marketing, Ms Clare Hunter and our CEO. We aim to recruit and to develop bright young UK graduates who have come to the UK from all around the world.

The UK has overseas graduates of extraordinary quality. Ms Jing Xia of China is one of these. Ms Jing is also an MBA and supporting the development of our Marketing strategy in China and discussed in London yesterday.

Swiss Army Fire Gaseous Extinguishing Systems

It is with pleasure that we are supplying our first Portalevel™ MAX units to the Swiss Army this week

SMM Exhibition - meeting with Strategic Partners

We were delighted to meet some of our Strategic Partners at the SMM Exhibition in Germany last week. Pictured here are Mrs Cindy Fan, Vice President of RMS Marine Service (Marine Partner, China), Cdr Vikesh, General Manager of Navicom International (Marine & Defence Partner, India) and Mr Pramode of Elcome, UAE (ODA and distributor to GCC Navies). With thanks to all their support thus far and a very positive outlook for the rest of 2016 and 2017 ahead in educating our markets about Safety for Safety's sake and the ease with which Coltraco can achieve this.

UMW, Malaysia exhibiting at ISF

Our CEO Dr Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter says, “Malaysia is a key UK partner country and UMW our Strategic Partner for Fire Safety in Malaysia. It gives me great pleasure to combine the vision of Mr Lee and his team at UMW with our world-leading capabilities in the constant monitoring of clean agent suppression systems. I am grateful to Raphael in Singapore for training, technical and product support from Singapore, and to Christopher in Kuala Lumpur for bringing this strategic teaming to fruition.

New Association Member Discounts – September only!

Keen to purchase Portalevel Max and Portasteele Calculator ? If you are a member for the following organizations you can redeem your discount today by quoting #MEMBER%. Valid September 2016 only. Get in touch to find out more.

Proudly associated with Maritime UK who are now partners with “Exporting Is GREAT

We are proud to be associated with Maritime UK (as members of the SSA and SMI) and now too with Exporting is GREAT initiative which we have been supporters of for a couple of years already.

“Maritime UK, which brings together the UK’s shipping, ports, marine and business services sectors has today partnered with the Exporting Is GREAT initiative, to help drive forward the industry’s ambitious exports agenda.

The maritime industry contributes £22.2bn to UK GDP and supports 500,000 jobs. Its sectors include shipping, ports, marine and business services; which together drive exports and inward investment, as well as remaining the fundamental enabler of trade in and out of this country.”

We are often asked about calibration, why it is important, how often it should be done and why. The reason we know calibration to be important, and recommend its annual service is because our equipment is designed to improve safety and best practice, so ensuring the equipment used to conduct such inspections is necessary. But don’t just listen to us: our manufacturer’s recommendation is based on clear cut regulations. Under ISO 17025 standards for the calibration of any monitoring or measuring equipment, it must be at least once a year.

At Rolls Royce the test cell for their Trent XWB engines are calibrated every 3 months. In the gas industry, customers are recommended to calibrate their detectors every 6 months, especially if they are using them in confined spaces, in order to sure they are maintaining their accuracy as per technical specifications. There are serious consequences if customers do not value the understanding of their tools or equipment, which unfortunately renders them at risk.

But, what about 5 year calibration certificates? On calibration and as a manufacturer of quality, we are clear that it is unsound, unsafe and unprofessional to compete on calibration as some of our competitors are offering 5 year calibration certificates. We do not wish to contravene ISO 17025. Nor do we wish customers to believe that it is the manufacturer that dictates calibration standards, which is not the case. However, we do not force the customer do anything because it is up to their discretion – the key here is that we will not issue calibration certificates beyond a year.

When you buy from Coltraco, you have confidence in the longevity of your equipment, aided by our Coltraco Customer Care Commitment, including life-time support. In addition, we have set up ODA Service Centres worldwide, with more coming online in 2017, so you can send your equipment for its calibration locally. We always do something “over and above” to enhance the unit for customers and we have a wonderful reputation as a consequence.

Get in touch on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Join us at IMPA, London – Stnd 114

Join us at SMM, Hamburg – Hall B5 Stand 517

Coltraco North America in service with the US Navy & Royal Canadian Navy

We have a long history and good experience operating as Coltraco North America in the USA and Canada. We are proud of our relationships with leading navies worldwide, including the US and Canadian.

More than 20 years ago the US Navy’s Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) purchased 110 Portalevel™ handheld ultrasonic liquid level indicator units. The US Navy ordered through Ascoa Fire Systems to meet their 1/8” accuracy requirement on testing the agent in High Pressure Halon systems.

More recently, we are delighted to announce that Portalevel™ is now in service with the Royal Canadian Navy. The units operate with their Atlantic and Pacific Naval Bases in Halifax and Vancouver.

We congratulate the team and wish the USN and RCN Fair winds and Calm seas.

Coltraco Speaking at Shanghai International Shipping Week September 2016

We have been kindly invited by the UK Government Department of International Trade and British Embassy Beijing to speak at the Shanghai International Shipping Week. We are very honoured. Our CEO is a Fellow of the Institute of Marine Engineers, an Associate of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects and Mr David Cao General Manager, Fire Safety, Coltraco in China, will be speaking at this landmark event.

Our New Marine Infographic – Aug 2016

Coltraco North America

We are pleased that our Customers for Coltraco North America can now call Tel 212-763-0081 for sales enquiries. Our Fire Safety Partner in the USA is SDi in New Jersey and our Marine Partner in the USA is Lea Machine in Florida.

Our New Portasteele™ Clean Agent Calculator Advert

Captain Amit Exhibiting at Fire Show in Ahmedabad

Our commitment to Coltraco in India continues and we will be at Fire South India in Chennai 21-22 September 2017.

We are pleased to announce that our first MAX unit arrives in Mongolia this month at a major customer protecting its server rooms and computer systems. Yesterday the Master of a military support ship emailed us to say : Just FYI, I purchased it and ABS required us to have some means of determining the level. It sat mostly unused for a couple of years until recently, when a more ambitious young officer pulled it out and used it to determine that a fixed fire system bottle for the galley deep fat fryer had failed. The fire fighting agent had dried and caked to the sides of the bottle, rendering it useless in the event of an emergency. Even the professional service companies failed to discover this failure during the annual inspections because the weight was not affected. Without the Portalevel™, it might have gone undetected until an actual emergency, at which time it would have failed with possibly disastrous consequences. Great piece of equipment!

Our Commitment to Korea

Mr Andrew our Head of Operations in Korea with Mr Sungkuk Hong, President of Wonwoo, who is both a certified fire protection professional engineer and a certified fire service professional engineer in Korea and our distributor in Korea for Portalevel™ MINI.

GM China Meets Guangzhou Telecom

We are committed to China and proud that Mr David Cao met with Guangzhou Telecom explaining our Triangle of Fire Safety in liquid level contents, pressure and weight/mass and testing 120 KG, 150 L cylinders of HFC227ea with Portalevel™ MAX.

Proud Members of the FSSA– August 2016

We are committed to the USA. The Board of the Fire Suppression Systems Association in the USA has kindly approved us for membership of the FSSA. Members are dedicated to the highest level of safety, reliability and effectiveness of special hazards fire suppression. Special Hazards Can Be Defined As But Not Limited To: Any area containing equipment or processes of exceptionally high value containing unique or irreplaceable assets (Museums, Archives, Art Galleries, Records Storage) or process where the revenue produced or its function is of greater value than the equipment itself. A Special Hazard can be a building, an area, a room or a piece of equipment. Some examples of places where you would find special hazards include: data centres, telecommunications, power generation, manufacturing and testing facilities, machinery spaces, healthcare facilities and more. These areas are exceptionally challenging from a fire protection standpoint. The fire alarm and sprinkler systems we see every day may not be appropriate as the only line of defence. This where Special Hazard Fire Protection offers unique solutions and where Coltraco has a special and globally leading place in the monitoring of clean agent and water mist systems and the maintenance of any gaseous systems pipework.

New Portalevel™ Sensor Arriving Soon …

General Manager Fire Safety in China

Last week Mr David Cao visited the China Fire Protection Association, the Shanghai Fire Protection Association and Professor Xu, , General Manager and Owner of China’s first manufacturer of NOVEC™ 1230, a company which was started by Prof Xu’s Father who was formerly Shanghai’s Fire Chief.

New Multi-Directional Portascanner™ Generator Assembly

A new “flat pack” set of plates is available for surveyors wishing to make a multi-directional Portascanner™ Watertight Generator in compliance with DNV Rules. We have been pioneering watertight integrity monitoring since 1993, won a Safety at Sea nomination in 1994, RINA and ABS Type approval and this is one more modification for our customers.

World First – Portasphere™ Arrives – August 2016

Sam Watson Head of Research & Development says, “We are very proud. This is one of the most technologically advanced units we have produced and advances fire industry capabilities in a safe, reliable and easy to use format for work on NOVEC™, FM-200™ or Halons in spherical containers.” We wish our American Cousins all success with it.

New Portascanner™ ISO 14520 Advertisement – August 2016

Our Fire Safety Range

Carnival Cruises Fire Safety Contract

It is with pleasure that our USA Marine Sales partner and ODA Service Station Lea Machine Services Inc. have won a UL-listed & ABS-approved Portalevel™ MAX Marine contract to supply and maintain the Carnival Fleet of 25 Cruise vessels each varying in size from 70,000 to 120,000 dwt. Carnival account for 21% of the worldwide cruise market and we are grateful to Mr Toralf Lea and Mr William Jones of Lea Machine. We are proud to supply this significant order and to have enjoyed a 25 year relationship with sister company Alf Lea in Norway.

Exhibiting at Indonesia’ Building & Hotel Expo

It is with great pleasure that Mr Peter Petrus, our Indonesian Strategic Partner is kindly exhibiting this week. Meetings were held yesterday with Jakarta Fire & Rescue Services with Mr Steven Ooi, the Chairman of The Confederation of Fire Protection Associations - International.

Hand Media – Our Media Partner – July 2016

At the heart of our media relationships is the special one we enjoy with Hand Media, an innovative international publisher of a variety of magazines and media platforms. Over the years Hand Media have identified our growth as a technologies company engaged in the monitoring of clean agent extinguishing systems through International Fire Buyer. It is to Mr Chris Lingham to whom we thank for identifying and creating this opportunity and to Mr David Rossiter for creating the strategic opportunity between our organisations.

Mr David Rossiter, Managing Director and Owner of Hand Media Limited says, ‘As an independent global publisher we have the honour to represent ourselves to many clients in differing markets, one of our most valued relationships is with Coltraco Ultrasonics, a technologies company at the heart of monitoring clean agents in fire safety and marine and offshore structures, and with whom we have a close working relationship. As a business owner, it is these close business relationships that help form the bedrock upon which we build our business as we well as those of our clients … a true partnership. This is a key part of our business philosophy. We are delighted to have such a relationship with Coltraco and we are proud to be associated with their business.

Dr Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter, CEO of Coltraco Ultrasonics says, “We admire fine writing as a reflection of fine thought. Hand Media deliver this. To think clearly is the first step towards innovation. Whilst we are fortunate to be able to innovate, we need the means to communicate its achievement and value. As we become at the heart of monitoring clean agent suppression systems or Naval, marine and offshore structures, so too do we need to develop our Communications skills and capabilities to a level in which we can influence change and deliver Safesite™ facilities and Safeship™ environments. David Rossiter and his team are a shining example of excellence in publishing and we look forward to developing our relationship with Chris and David as we become an essential part of the customers we serve and the need to communicate with them, the industries that they are a part of and their Governments too.”

Our Strategic Fire Safety Partner in Australia

It is with great pleasure that we welcome Mr Robin Sellar, Managing Director and Owner of Sicada Fire, as our Strategic Partner in Fire Safety in Australia. Essential elements of Robin’s success have been his ongoing commitment to superior and unparalleled customer service and the application of key principles of Safety, Integrity and Accountability. In 25 years Robin has led Sicada Fire to become one of Australia’s leading independent Fire Safety companies. Our CEO Dr Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter says, “We have been committed to serving the Australian market for 20 years, but with the development of an integrated range of products, systems and services we remain known for only a few of these. We are not yet at the heart of Australian clean agent monitoring or marine servicing and I am honoured and delighted to welcome Robin who will become the pivot around which our strategy in Australia will be implemented for both our fixed monitoring systems and our range of portable clean agent and ship structure monitoring solutions.”

Coltraco and The Shipbuilders and Shiprepairers Association

We are pleased to be active members of the The Shipbuilders and Shiprepairers Association (SSA) including Shipyards, Marine Equipment Manufacturers and research institutes. The SSA works with UK Government including UKTI, the Ministry of Defence, the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, and the Marine Industries Leadership Council (MILC) and Maritime UK. We thank Mr Gary Ball and Ms Laura Sherif for their support to us all.

Smart Technology for Clean Agent Monitoring

Fire & Marine Service Engineers need to be current, professional & accountable. Technology drives accountability and the era of integration is here and available now with the combination of Portatsteele™ Calculator converting UL-listed Portalevel™ MAX liquid level readings to Weight & Mass in a simple 7” tablet format.

Our Industrial Sector Range

SDi and Coltraco Teaming in the USA

Following meetings at FIREX 2016 in London and NFPA 2016 in Las Vegas it is with pleasure that we announce a unique agreement between SDi and Coltraco. SDi, LLC manufacture and distribute professional Test & Inspection Equipment for the Fire Detection Industry in the USA. Rick Hefferman CEO of SDi says, “SDi is delighted to be partnering with Coltraco Ultrasonics in the UK for the USA distribution of some of their key technologies. We look forward to working with a company that shares many of our core values and work ethos. We are quite sure that the innovative products Coltraco is allowing us to bring into our market will lay the foundation for a bright future”. The distribution agreement includes Permalevel™ Load Weigh, Portascanner™ for ISO14520 leak detection/room integrity testing, Portasteele™ Calculator, Portalevel™ Datalogger, Portalevel™ MINI, Portamonitor™ for fire pumps, Portagauge™ 4 for cylinder wall and pipework thickness and the Portapipe™ pipework integrity test indicator. Coltraco CEO Dr Hunter says, “In SDi we follow the great path that Rick and Bill Rossiter CEO of Detector Tester in the UK created 17 years ago in the USA for the-then No-Climb Products. We are proud and honoured to be working with Rick and Joe at SDi for this unique product mix and look forward to this exciting teaming with the fine company that SDi is.”

Fire Protection Association Members

We are proud to be active members of the FPA in the UK and thank Mr Mark Sennett for his kind support.

Seatrade Maritime Awards Asia 2016 Finalists

Our Strategic Partner and Future ODA Service Station in Greece

Our commitment to Europe continues. It is with great pleasure that we announce the appointment of Mr Timos Vossos, Managing Director of Pronoia Limited as our Strategic Partner in Greece. Established in 1936 Pronoia is a leading fire safety company and will be managing distribution partners across both the Marine and the onshore Fire Safety sectors in Greece. Over time Pronoia will become our Greek installation partner for Permalevel™Multiplex and our ODA Service Station for our range of Portalevel™ MAX & Portascanner™ Watertight units. Greece is the 45th largest economy in the world, the 12th largest in the EU and has the largest commercial shipping fleet in the world. We warmly welcome Mr Vossos and his fine company.

CEO Elected Member of The Royal Institution of Naval Architects

It is with pleasure that we announce that our CEO has been elected an associate Member of RINA. Founded in 1860 in London to, "advance the art and science of ship design" The Royal Institution of Naval Architects is a world-renowned and highly respected learned society and international professional institution whose members are involved at all levels in the design, construction, maintenance and operation of all marine vessels and structures. RINA has members in over ninety countries, and is widely represented in industry, universities and colleges, and maritime organisations world-wide.

Our Strategic Fire Safety Partner in Indonesia

We have great pleasure in welcoming Mr Peter Placidus Petrus, our Strategic Fire Safety Partner in Indonesia and a fire industry professional who amongst other responsibilities in the fire industry include leadership roles at the Indonesian Fire Protection Association, the Indonesian Fire and Rescue Foundation and represents Indonesian interests at the Confederation of Fire Associations Asia, a body of leading fire protection organizations from the Asia Pacific Region that have joined forces to collectively direct their resources at reducing the global fire problem and increasing life safety. Peter will kindly manage our range of gaseous extinguishing system products and systems.

Indonesia is a G16 economy, has a population of 255m, a growth rate of approx. 5.5% and is the largest economy in SE Asia. India, China and Indonesia have the fastest growing economies in the G20. We are most fortunate in this strategic development. We warmly welcome Peter.

identifying precise leak site locations and size using the Portascanner™

CURRENT SITUATION: Before installing Clean Agent fire suppression systems the integrity of the building structure commonly undergoes “Door Fan Testing’. This test determines the Peak Pressure and Hold Time necessary for ensuring the effectiveness of these fire suppression systems. Recommended by NFPA 2001 and ISO 14520 standards to calculate the overall leakage of a room.

LIMITATIONS: Locating exact leak sites is currently done by a “puffer test” with smoke. However, such current methods do not provide precise, accurate results on leak location or size.

SOLUTION: Today, the industry can benefit from using the Portascanner™ Airtight Integrity Test Indicator alongside the Door Fan Testing for a complete and comprehensive regulatory room test. Ideal for precise leak detection, Portascanner™ is an exceptionally accurate (to 0.06mm) and fast method. It is the first of its kind, intuitive to use, non-invasive, and consequently, is of immediate use to the Fire Industry. Read more.

Portasphere™ is coming shortly ….

Our work at the heart of liquefied gaseous extinguishing systems continues. Mr Sam Watson says, “Portasphere™ is an intelligent designed unit with a clear colour backlit LCD display allowing the user to adjust settings to the particular Sphere under test, enabling users to operate quickly and efficiently in dark and confined spaces”.

Portalevel™ MAX Front Cover Article in International Fire Buyer !

We are engaged in the the monitoring of the external and internal corrosion of pipework, the flow within them, the integrity of them, the leak-site identification in them and the condition monitoring of the machinery that drive the flow within and into them.

Gaseous Extinguishing Systems – Pressure Matters

We are dedicated to the design and manufacture of products and systems to monitor liquefied gaseous extinguishing systems, and converting these readings to ones of weight/mass. Pressure matters too.

Rosenbauer include Portalevel® in their catalogue

A fellow leading manufacturer in the fire safety industry, Rosenbauer are one of the three largest OEMs of fire trucks and vehicles based in Austria. We are pleased that they recognise the benefits of our Portalevel® and include it within their catalogue.

Fire Industry Association Export Council

We are proud members of the Export Council and extend our gratitude to Mr Ian Moore, CEO and Ms Tracy Kirk, Chairman of the FIA Export Council and Mr David Smih, Technical Manager.

We are proud partners with Hand Media Publishing. Owned by Mr David Rossiter and ably supported by the highly professional Mr Chris Lingham. Over many years we have experienced the excellence of Hand Media’s support, professional development and customer care. At FIREX London 2016 Hand Media kindly invited us to their reception in London. Minimising Risk in Gaseous Extinguishing Systems – IFB UK CEO Article. Click here to read full article...

USA Fire Sector Commending UL-listed Portalevel™ MAX

We go to great lengths to develop technology for the fire sector which is accurate and easy to use by fire service engineers. We are grateful to the following customer, “We bought a unit from you all, a Portalevel™ MAX and could not be any happier with the device. I will pass your name around. Thanks so much.”

Jim, Florida

Coltraco Fire Safety Partner in Nigeria

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Mr Osagie Olaye, Managing Director of Sagola Environmental & Fire Safety Services Limited, as our Fire Safety Partner in Nigeria the world's 24th largest economy. Nigeria is predicted to have the most sustained growth rate of any world economy in 2010-2050 averaging 9-10% pa, the first country in the world to wholly repay its Paris Club foreign debt, the latest country in Africa to have eradicated Polio, the world's 12th largest oil producer, the 6th largest oil exporter and Member of the Commonwealth. We warmly welcome Mr Osagie Olaye.

Posidonia, Greece 6-9 June 2016

Miss Clare Hunter exhibited at Posidonia in Greece 6-9 June to meet our customers new and old, primarily in the shipping industry but also in fire safety and industrial sectors. We would like to thank the team at QControl Quality Solutions Ltd who extended wonderful Greek hospitality to us during the week. We will be releasing news about our new partners/distributors in Greece next month!

CEO Member of Senior Common Room at Hatfield College, Durham University

It is with great pleasure that we announce that our CEO, Dr Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter, has had the great honour of being made a Member of the Senior Common Room of Hatfield College, University of Durham by Professor Tim Burt, Master of Hatfield College. Vel Primus Vel cum Primis. The College motto can be translated as The First or One of the First.

US Bureau of Reclamation Power Plant Commends UL-listed Portalevel™ MAX

The Blue Mesa Power Plant in Colorado, operated by the US Bureau of Reclamation, consists of two 43,200-kilowatt generators, driven by two 41,500-horsepower turbines. Each turbine is designed to operate at a maximum head of about 360 feet. We are grateful to Mr Langley for the following commendation, “The Portalevel™ MAX is working great. Thanks for a fine product”.

We are fortunate to have many customers who thank us and applaud our quality instrumentation and customer care; our thanks to Mr Ted of AMTRAK, Washington DC, USA for his kind comments.

“The Portalevel™ MAX instrument is top notch, by far the best in its class. Last month, we completed in time the fleet FE-13™ fire extinguisher cylinders annual verification. Smooth operation - no glitch, no problem to report.” In a message to our CEO this month :

“Dear Carl, I hope you are doing well. The Portalevel ultrasonic instruments perform nothing less than excellent ! Our technicians did not experience any glitch over the past two annual campaigns. We had one isolated incident where one FE-13™ cylinder was found empty during the central block overhaul; that bottle had been tested using the Portalevel™ instrument, a few months earlier, and – then – the suppressant agent level within the cylinder was found within limits. That cylinder was sent to the company that handles the refilling for us (a contractor), for investigation. Apparently, a leak developed, and the agent escaped the cylinder. I follow up Coltraco on Facebook – I am happy to see your company continues to extend and expand operations worldwide. Best wishes, Carl, and success in the future !

CSD Sealing Systems & Coltraco Ultrasonics Agreement

It is with great pleasure that Mr Peter Litchfield, Technical Sales Director, CSD Sealing Systems and our CEO Mr Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter have agreed to work in mutual support of their joint interests in Portascanner™ Watertight and the RISE Multi-Cable Transit System used in the Royal Navy and UK MoD and to co-exhibit and share speaking opportunities at appropriate Naval and Marine conferences in the UK. RISE and SLIPSIL Sealing Plugs were selected by BAE Systems across six Type 45 ships with the products being used on all pipe and cable transits. The Type 45’s are some of the most powerful destroyers ever built for the Royal Navy, they can sail over 600 miles a day and operate around the globe. Work has also been carried out with BAE on the Astute SSN hunter-killer Submarine programme and on the new QEC Aircraft Carrier. BAE Systems is part of the Aircraft Carrier Alliance (ACA), which is responsible for delivering the QE Class to the Royal Navy, members of the alliance also include Babcock, Thales UK and the UK Ministry of Defence. CSD and the UK MoD use Portascanner™ Watertight in support of these programmes.

We are pleased to confirm that Portascanner™ Watertight now has its PDA certification and is on its way to full ABS Type Approval. We approach watertight integrity monitoring of commercial shipping, Naval vessels and Offshore oil and gas platforms in an integrated manner combining our portable units, semi-fixed and constant monitoring systems in the following manner :

As part of our core commitment to Science and specifically in liquefied Gaseous Extinguishing & Suppression Systems and after some very fine work by Mr Sam Watson, Head of Research & Development, Mr Henry Hunter and ably created and supported by Luke, Jade and Nicole we are delighted to announce the USA launch of Portasteele™ Calculator at the NFPA Show in Las Vegas this week.

Research Group Dinner – June 2016

Carl and Dorothy had the great pleasure of hosting a dinner for the extraordinary members of the Durham research group this week in the Senior Common Room of Hatfield College, Durham University. We wish to express our special thanks to Mary, Clare and Professor Tim Burt.

Coltraco in Singapore - Management Team

With great pleasure we announce that Mr Dennis Chua and Mr Wesley Ong join Head of Operations in Singapore, Mr Raphael J. Bringing their expertise in Marine & Offshore respectively we warmly welcome Dennis and Wesley. It is to Mr B H Tan to whom we all owe a debt of gratitude who met with our CEO over many years at our CEO’s “home from home” in Singapore, Raffles Hotel. Whilst writing we also wish to express our appreciation to Mrs Ann and Ms Clare, without whom this extraordinary development would not have been possible. We are committed to Asia and particularly to Singapore at its centre.

Mr George Hunter and Ms Karen Jones are exhibiting in Las Vegas at the NFPA Expo this week leading the formal USA launch of Portasteele™ Calculator to convert UL-listed Portalevel™ MAX liquid level readings to weight/mass.

Portapipe™ - Pipework Integrity Test Indicator

Coming Soon to test pipework corrosion …

Congratulations To Mr R. Gene House of San Francisco

We wish Mr Gene House a very Happy Birthday. Gene is an inspiration and guide to and closest friend of our CEO and his Family for many years. Carl says, “One of the many privileges we have is the opportunity that exist for us to develop and nurture our extraordinary young people. Gene has done this for many years and I am fortunate to him in enabling me to do this now. It is something for which I am exceptionally grateful. In this it is to Gene to whom we owe so much.”

We will be presenting at the Warship International Conference – hosted by the Royal Institution of Naval Architects – 15-16 June 2016 in the Georgian city of Bath, UK. We will be joined by UK supplier CSD Sealing Systems. CSD use Portascanner™ Watertight NATO Stock No. 6625-99-257-8336 on the Royal Navy’s QEC Aircraft Carriers, Astute Class Submarines, Type 45 Destroyers, Type 23 Frigates and the Amphibious Landing Ship’s HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark and will be co-presenting from the operational perspective. CSD Sealing System (UK) have specialised in the supply of technically advanced cable transits, flexible pipe penetrations and cable duct seals to the Royal Navy and BAE Systems who build over 90% of the Royal Navy’s ships and submarines, with global divisions to customers in over 100 countries. Since 1999 CSD have operated with BAE Systems on all of their major warship building programmes for the Royal Navy. CSD now have a specialist survey and installation team to reinstate and prove watertight and CBRN integrity.

Hong Kong Fire Services Department - Portalevel™

Our commitment to Asia continues. We are pleased to confirm that the HKFSD mandates that every fire company in Hong Kong requires to have a Portalevel™ liquid level indicator as part of their licensing requirement in GENERAL SPECIFICATION FOR FIRE SERVICE INSTALLATION IN GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS OF THE HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION. B5.8 GAS CYLINDERS A device shall be supplied and installed for measuring the amount of liquid in the cylinder at any time. This shall be done by a method which does not require the cylinder to be detached from the manifold. The contents of the cylinders may alternatively be checked by the use of a liquid level indicator of a type approved by the Architect. Portalevel™ is approved for use as it is a listed product just as it is in ISO 14520. Hong Kong means much to us. Our CEO used to live on the 26th floor of this building, occupying two sides of it indeed and, on a light-hearted note, is now a Senior Guest of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel after 25 years of staying there.

A glimpse of our forthcoming Portalevel™ Intrinsically Safe unit for you …

Ms Jade O’Connor, Physicist and Chemist - Graduate of the Year

It is with great pleasure that Ms Jade O’Connor, reading Physics and Chemistry, has been awarded Graduate of the Year by the University for her work with us in 2015. Our CEO says, “I am delighted that Jade has been recognised by the University for her wonderful contribution across her Summer and Winter Internship with us. This is richly deserved, marking as it does achieving some Science of the highest order working with Mr Sam Watson and Ms Nicole Richardson. Jade is a leading Scientist of her gifted year and a very special, talented and capable person.”

Head of Marketing Quoted in Official IMPA Singapore 2016 Report

We are delighted that IMPA Singapore Official Report quotes from Ms Clare Hunter, Head of Marketing & Communications who also had the great honour of delivering a presentation to the delegates last month.

Introducing Ms Karin Singh – Asia Sales & Marketing

Our commitment to Asia continues and it is with great pleasure that Ms Karin Singh is joining us. Formerly of Air India and with a wealth of professional experience in Customer Relationship Management and brand development, Ms Singh will kindly support Captain Amit and our Sales Team in the development of the non-marine sectors in India and Sri Lanka. It is hoped that this will be the beginning of a larger role within our Asia strategy over time.

Fire Industry Association and Coltraco Ultrasonics

It is with great pleasure that we are an active member of the FIA. Participating in the Export Council and a Working Group we believe strongly in the calibre and quality of the organisation and thank Mr Ian Moore, Chief Executive of the FIA for his encouragement and support.

Hampton is by the River Thames in Middlesex.

Society of Maritime Industries Reception for our Defence & Naval Attaches and Advisors in London

Our CEO had the great pleasure of being invited by the Society of Maritime Industries to a reception of our overseas Naval Attaches and Commonwealth Naval Advisers held in the Court Room of the Honourable Company of Master Mariners aboard the HQS Wellington on the River Thames in London yesterday.

We wish to express our appreciation to Mr John Murray, Chief Executive and Ms Clementina for kindly arranging the event and to Ms Clare Hunter for enabling our association with the SMI.

Smart Monitoring of Gaseous Fire Extinguishing Systems 24/7

Permalevel™ Multiplex enables the “smart cylinder”. But it also provides a “smart, integrated and networked capability” to the asset, its extinguishing system and its fire alarm and detection system too ..

Coltraco Fire Safety Partner in Nigeria

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Mr Osagie Olaye, Managing Director of Sagola Environmental & Fire Safety Services Limited, as our Fire Safety Partner in Nigeria the world’s 24th largest economy. Nigeria is predicted to have the most sustained growth rate of any world economy in 2010-2050 averaging 9-10% pa, the first country in the world to wholly repay its Paris Club foreign debt, the latest country in Africa to have eradicated Polio, the world’s 12th largest oil producer, the 6th largest oil exporter and Member of the Commonwealth. We warmly welcome Mr Osagie Olaye.

Our Marine and Offshore Oil & Gas Partner in Malaysia

It is with pleasure that Mr Jimmy Wong, Managing Director of Keisha Marine and our Marine Partner is now also our exclusive Oil and Gas Partner in Malaysia. We are grateful to be able to grow this relationship with the astute and dynamic man that Mr Jimmy Wong and his team in the wonderful country that Malaysia is.

Minimising Risk in Gaseous Extinguishing Systems – IFB UK CEO Article

Exhibiting at NAFED Indianapolis Conference 12-14 May 2016

Our Director of Sales was delighted to exhibit at the 3rd NAFED Show this year in Indianapolis. Aside from meeting our friends and customers at the National Association of Fire Equipment Distributors conference, he took some time to visit the Fire Museum and explore the beautiful city of Indianapolis. We feel privileged to join our fellow members at these shows this year and become integrated into the Association. Our Safesite® Mission leads us to become embedded at the centre of the industry, learning from peers and working to implement the regulations to see how they can be improved to benefit the safety of us all, as well as protect assets and facilities.We are also pleased to be growing our USA base of customers and developing our network of distributors across the United States. We will be back for the NFPA Expo in June 12-16 June in Las Vegas to consolidate this further.

Clean Extinguishing Agents – The Triangle of Clean Agent Monitoring

CO2, NOVEC™ 1230 and HFC-227ea (FM-200™) and Inert Gases are the principal suppressant gases which the fire industry and Coltraco Ultrasonics work with in terms of monitoring. We are seeing an increase in the design, installation and commissioning of gaseous extinguishing systems containing NOVEC™ 1230, a decrease in HFC-227 ea/FM-200™, a slight increase in CO2 and a steady use of Inert Gases. Our effort is to design and deliver the following “Triangle of Clean Agent Monitoring”. Portalevel™ MAX and Permalevel™ Multiplex monitor and measure contents, and Portasteele™ Calculator is coming soon to establish the weight and mass of clean agents..

Portascanner™ Watertight in Shipping – May 2016

As we near completion of full Type Approval with a major Classification Society it is worth summarising the variants of this world-leading unit for :

Hatch-Covers

Multiple Cable Transits

Watertight Compartment Doors

Naval surface vessel Operational Citadels

Captain J. F. Holmes, Master Mariner and a leading UK Marine Surveyor writes, “Having recently returned our PORTASCANNER™ II unit for servicing and calibration, we are extremely pleased. The Company brought the unit, carriage and storage container back up to an operational condition, in a time-sensitive and timely manner. The unit undergoes a hard life in a tough environment. Our unit performs well during the entire period of use, proves rugged and the added bonus from the unit's return is the updated [Decibel and Linear] readout and software which permits a more definitive execution of the reporting and documentation when on site, testing weather deck closing devices. Our dealings with the Coltraco Management and Servicing Team has been a gratifying experience; the updated PORTASCANNER II unit will continue to give us the professional edge to offer a complete service to Ship Owners and Time Charterers and other interested parties in the protection of transporting their commodities for years to come”.

With kind regardsCaptain J. F. Holmes

Coltraco Distributor in Albania Announcement

It is our pleasure to announce that Mr Argus Xoxi, Managing Director of Novtaki has been appointed our Distributor of Portalevel™ MAX and Permalevel™ Multiplex in Albania. Working with Mr Lubomir Ernst, Regional Director this is part of a regional plan in Central & Eastern Europe. We warmly welcome Mr Argus.

Coltraco Finalist in Seatrade Maritime Safety Awards Asia – May 2016

We are delighted to announce that we have been shortlisted alongside Fleet Management Limited and Pacific Basin Shipping for the Seatrade Maritime Asia Safety Award. We express our gratitude to Seatrade Maritime Awards Asia for recognising our innovation and commitment to improving safety at sea via Portasteele™ Calculator – in tandem with Portalevel® MAX - which enables a ships crew to calculate the CO2 and other extinguishing agent mass and weight from its liquid level readings for the first time. Fire safety at sea is a critical issue; it is an area in which we provide simple, ergonomic and reliable solutions designed so that ships can improve on-board fire safety management in accordance with the IMO SOLAS FSS Code.

Coltraco CEO Speaks at London Exporting Conference May 2016

At London’s Excel Conference Centre last week our CEO presented to Green Light for Export , the Institute of Export’s conference in conjunction with International Trade Magazine. We greatly thank Mr Chris Lingham of First Hand Media and Publisher Mr David Rossiter for this opportunity.

IMPA 2016 in Singapore – 17-18 May 2016

Our Head of Marketing & Communications, Ms Clare Hunter is at IMPA Singapore ! The International Marine Purchasing Association was established in London in 1978 by a group of senior shipping executives to represent the interests of the purchasing profession within shipping and promote close co-operation and understanding between buyer and supplier now representing over 700 members from across the world; ship owners, operators, ship managers and ship suppliers. Coltraco is a proud IMPA Member and Portamarine™ and Portascanner™ Watertight are in the Marine Stores Guide with IMPA part numbers. Ms Clare is exhibiting with Mr Raphael J, Head of Operations in Singapore.

Our commitment to the Royal Navy is absolute and our core products Portalevel™ MAX, Portascanner™ Watertight, Portamarine™ & Portagauge™ are all with NATO Stock Nos. and the company with a UK Government Cage Code

Portagauge™ Marine & Fire Safety Ultrasonic Thickness Gauges

Our single-echo Portagauge™ 3 has been in service and upgraded many times for 20 years. Known as the “low cost Marine Superintendents Thickness Gauge” it is widely used in the shipping industry. Small, hand-held, highly versatile and accurate it is now joined by the multiple-echo metal-only Portagauge™ 4 – so that it takes only the metal reading not its coating as well. We now have a range of ultrasonic sensors to work aboard ships but also to test wall-corrosion of fire safety cylinders and gaseous fire extinguishing and fire sprinkler pipework so that testing can take place cleanly and non-invasively, without disturbing the system.

New Portalevel™ Datalogger Advertisement

Our Portascanner™ Watertight package will shortly be available with optional accessories including Portaleak™ a portable ultrasonic leak detector for gas leak detection & Portascanner™ Evidential for the recording of Portascanner™ Watertight readings. Together with Portamonitor™ Bearing Indicator this will provide a complete array of capability for watertight integrity testing of ships and offshore platform watertight compartment doors, hatch-covers and multiple cable transit areas – offering dual Decibel and mathematically Linear displays – the first of its type in the world - plus condition monitoring.

New Portascanner™ Watertight Advertisement

Our New Portamonitor™ Bearing Indicator Shipping Advertisement

It is with great pleasure that we welcome Mr M I Hashmi who has been appointed by the Chairman as Sales and Marketing Manager to market the Coltraco range of products and systems in Pakistan. MAB Group of Companies are based in Karachi with offices throughout Pakistan, and are our Permalevel™ Multiplex strategic partners and authorised distributor in Pakistan for our UL-approved Portalevel™ MAX and its marine variant Portalevel™ MAX Marine. Permalevel™ Multiplex is a dedicated 24/7 continuous monitoring system for liquefied fixed gas suppression systems designed for high value asset installations where the need for business continuity, remote monitoring and remote diagnostics of the asset fire extinguishing system is critical. We have had the honour of knowing Captain Syed Ali, Chairman and Master Mariner for 25 years. We look forward to working closely with Mr Hashmi and offer our kindest compliments to Captain Syed and his family. It is hoped that MAB Group will become operational as our ODA Service Station later in 2016 to enable repairs and calibration to be conducted in Pakistan. MAB Group customers include Nokia, Nortel, Comstar, Huawei, Warid Telecom, Mobilink, UBL and PakChina Mobile.

Certificates of Trademark Registration in China

It is with great pleasure that we have received Certificates of Trademark Registration for our constant monitoring system for liquefied gaseous fixed fire extinguishing systems such as CO2, FM-200™ & NOVEC™ 1230, HFC-225 & 227 - Permalevel™ - and for our constant monitoring system of ships and offshore platform watertight integrity - Permascanner™ - from the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce of the People’s Republic of China. Coltraco Ultrasonics Limited is committed to Asia and China is a key strategic partner in the region. We are highly grateful to Ms Clare for her dedication on IP, Ms Kris for her support and to Mr David for being our General Manager Fire Safety in China and to Ms Cindy for being our Marine Partner in China. Jinnah once said, “No struggle can ever succeed without women participating side by side with men”. Nehru once said, “Loyal and efficient work in a great cause, even though it may not be immediately recognised, ultimately bears fruit”. We are grateful for our understanding of Asia and on this special day, to China.

Mr William Marie Chong – Inspiration in Asia

We have a globally recognised commitment to Asia. What is less well-known is the inspiration provided to our CEO Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter by William Marie Chong in Singapore. We warmly congratulate Mr Chong for the conferment upon him of the Surakarta Royal Nobility Title, Kanjeng Raden Aryo William Marie Chong Adinagoro. We take this opportunity to offer our best wishes to Mr Chong, his Family and his extraordinary, kind and capable Team in Singapore.

Portalevel™ MAX Arrives in Slovakia

It is with great pleasure that our UL-approved Portalevel™ MAX is now in service in Slovakia and being distributed in the Czech Republic, Eastern & Central Europe. We thank Mr Lubomir Ernst, Regional Director, for his wonderful work in the region. We thought we might share these pictures of the unit in this wonderful country.

Exhibiting at IMPA Singapore 17-18 May 2016

Ms Clare Hunter, Head of Marketing & Communications will be leading our exhibition at IMPA Singapore 17-18 May at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel this month with our Head of Operations Singapore, Mr Raphael J.

Head of Operations in Korea Visits Coltraco Distributors at International Fire Expo 2016 Daegu Metropolitan City

As part of our commitment to Asia, Korea is a strategic market for us in Fire Safety and Marine. Our Head of Operations in Korea and industry veteran Mr Andrew Kim is at the core of our success in Korea across both our ultrasonic and highly capable Permalevel™ Multiplex & mechanical Permalevel™ Loadweigh fixed monitoring system for CO2, FM-200™ and NOVEC™ 1230 with L&P Korea as well as our Portalevel™ MAX portable liquid level indicators with KEI, Portalevel™ Original with B-I Industrial and Portalevel™ Standard with Tyco Marine and Poratlevel™ MINI with Wonwoo. We have connections to Korea going back 30 years when our CEO visited the British Gurkha Contingent of the UN Honour Guard in Korea and our business over 25 years serving the Korean shipbuilding and fire sectors. We wish to express our gratitude to Mr Andrew Kim, our customers, distributors in Korea.

Exhibiting at the FIA’s FIM Expo in Leeds, UK 27 April 2016

Meeting industry friends from across the FIA membership, and longstanding users and customers such as Cormeton Fire, our Director of Sales and Chief Executive Officer exhibited with 27 other UK companies and attended a wonderful presentation by Mr Ian Moore, CEO of the FIA. With 90% of our output being exported, for so many years we have exhibited overseas but this was the first time we have exhibited at an exclusively British show and a great pleasure it was too. Held at the famous Elland Road stadium of Leeds United Football Club this brought back happy memories of Leeds going to Wembley and grand to be at one England’s great cities. We look forward to continuing to supporting the FIA.

CEO at the House of Commons

This week our CEO Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter had the great honour of attending the Fire Industry Association’s 100th Anniversary at the House of Commons. Kindly hosted by the All Party Parliamentary Group for Fire Safety & Rescue our CEO comments, “It is our great pleasure to be an active member of the FIA and I am most grateful to Mr Ian Moore, CEO of the FIA for so kindly inviting us. we look forward to supporting the FIA Export Council and Working Groups in the future. There remain “ungoverned spaces” in fire safety and we aim to play our full part as a subject matter expert in some of them. Parliament has over 800 years developed a dualist tradition in which a treaty ratified by the Government does not alter the laws of the country until it is incorporated into English law by legislation. This is a constitutional requirement. I am honoured to be here in the House of Commons today.”

SAFETY4SEA

ATSB has issued report regarding a fire which started in the engine room of the bulk carrier Marigold, while it was loading a cargo of iron ore in Port Hedland, Western Australia. Firefighting by the ship's crew included activating the Halon gas fixed fire suppression system for the engine room. However, a full release of Halon gas did not occur, nor was the engine room effectively sealed. Consequently, the fire continued for about 12 hours until it burnt itself out.

The ATSB determined that the fire began on Marigold's number one generator after a fuel oil pipe fitting on it failed. The resulting spray of fuel oil likely contacted a hot surface on the generator and ignited. The deployment of the ship's Halon gas fixed fire suppression system was ineffective, as a full release of Halon gas did not occur and the engine room was not effectively sealed.

Exhibiting at the FIA’s FIM Expo in Leeds, UK this Wednesday 27 April 2016

We are proud and honoured to announce that Ace International Trade Company are our exclusive partner for MOL, the Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force and the Coast Guard of Japan. We wish to express our gratitude to Ace International’s esteemed Chairman Mr Shibasaki san and President Mr Matsuzaki san and to Mr Hamada san, Mr Takato san, Mr Yamaguchi san and to Mr Tagamori san. Our core products are technological solutions to watertight integrity monitoring and fire suppression system contents monitoring.. Our technology can be used simply, cleanly and most accurately when vessels are alongside and at sea to deliver our “safety first” Safeship™ concept. We are committed to working in the extraordinary and special country that Japan is.

On the Occasion of the Birthday of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

We wish to celebrate Her Majesty’s 90th Birthday on Thursday 21st April 2016. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland’s longest reigning Monarch, surpassing Queen Victoria’s reign of 63 years. Many years ago our CEO had the great pleasure of escorting Anne the Princess Royal in her capacity as Chairman of Save the Children touring the Vietnamese Boat People transit camps in Hong Kong. The Queen was Colonel-in-Chief of his Regiment the Royal Green Jackets. We thank Her Majesty for serving as Head of State and Head of the Commonwealth. We have the Honour to Remain your faithful subjects.

Visiting our Japanese Partners & Exhibiting in Tokyo at Sea Japan International Maritime – April 2016

Our Director of Sales, Mr George Hunter, is in Tokyo, Japan this week visiting our Shipping customers, Fire Safety and Marine Partners in Japan and following the visit by Head of Research & Development, Mr Sam Watson in 2015. We see great opportunities between our countries. Both the UK and Japan are maritime nations, island countries in proximity to large continents and at the centre of technical innovation, technological leadership and global trade. Both countries are constitutional monarchies and of similar geographical size, share similar northern seasonal climates and are mutually equidistant from Eurasia. Perhaps most importantly both share an adherence to propriety in social and business relationships. We are proud to be meeting with our longstanding partners DKSH, Ace International , Nichibou and exhibiting with Fuji Trading at the Sea Japan International Maritime Exhibition & Conference 2016 this week.

We are committed to exporting to China, working with Chinese partners and proud to announce that we have just won a Chinese legal case in Beijing to protect our IP. We achieved this with the help and guidance of a fine Chinese Attorney identified with the kind and valued assistance of the Commercial Section of the British Embassy in Beijing.

We are pleased to overcome these issues to aid our sales and promotion in China. We encourage other British companies to work with UKTI and the UK Department of Business, Innovation & Skills to engage with professional, dynamic and proactive local lawyers at such times; this case happily demonstrates that Chinese law can protect British IP in China.

Releasing our New Portalevel™ Advert from the Marketing team – April 2016

With Spring beginning in England Clare and the Marketing team have designed this new advert which will be showing shortly in the leading fire trade publications :

UL-approved Portalevel™ MAX - Chinese Version Available Now – April 2016

Coltraco Ultrasonics is pleased to announce the release of the Portalevel Max now available with dual language controls in English and Chinese.China is an exciting market, and Coltraco Ultrasonics values greatly the hard work of our partners in this part of the world. Furthermore, we recognise that to continue to support them and all our Chinese speaking customers, providing accurate and quality translations is essential, not only of our equipment manuals but also direct to the equipment controls.

Accident Analysis: Talk about Bangkok Siam Commercial Bank Building fire extinguishing system of the accident March 13 – Article written by our Chinese Fire Safety Partner

All credit to Mr David Cao, our Fire Safety Partner in China for his article following the fire outbreak in Siam Bank in March. Mr Cao writes his views on the incident, on fire safety in more general terms and extols the advantages that Portalevel® MAX offers to fire safety management regimes. Mr Cao’s article has been re-published by 20 different Fire Brigades in China, including the Chinese Government Fire Department of Ministry of Public Security’s “China Fire” WeChat account and over 50,000 people have read his post.

Follow us on LinkedIn & Facebook for regular updates & for our Chinese customers, Mr Cao is on WeChat “36safety£.

Find below summary of Mr Cao’s article or Click Here to read the article in full.

Exhibiting at NAFED USA Conferences in Las Vegas & Atlantic City April 2016

George our Director of Sales exhibited at the NAFED Conference in Las Vegas last month and Henry, Technical Sales Manager, will exhibit at NAFED Atlantic City later this week. We are grateful to the National Association of Fire Equipment Distributors in the USA for this opportunity and are proud to be a NAFED Member organisation.

First customer in Myanmar – now selling to 107 countries

We are delighted to announce our first customer in Myanmar. We are pleased to say that our Portalevel® has been delivered to a 5 star luxury hotel to support their fire safety management system.

Proud members of the Society of Maritime Industries, UK

We are proud to be members of the Society of Maritime Industries, UK. Thanks to the SMI we enjoyed participating at Marintec in China in December 2015 and more recently at Asia Pacific Maritime in Singapore in March 2016. It is a pleasure to work with the SMI. Please do see our profile on their website.

Committed to Training

We are proud of our commitment to training, technical and spares support. We train servicing teams and marine engineers around the world. In particular we are proud of our commitment to train customers in over 100 countries.

Introducing Mr Raphael Francis J - Head Of Operations – Singapore

It is with great pleasure that we announce and introduce Mr Raphael Francis as Coltraco’s Head of Operations in Singapore. Raphael has nearly 20 years experience in precision process engineering focusing on instrumentation technology with particular emphasis on continuous monitoring systems for airborne particulate, dew point, humidity, air and water flow, velocity, pressure, temperature, total organic carbons, pH, conductivity and resistivity parameters.

Raphael has considerable technology and instrumentation experience in the aerospace, defence, hospitals and buildings, infrastructure, transportation, marine, ship building, oil and gas, petrol chemical plants and pharmaceutical and advanced engineering, process and manufacturing sectors. Coltraco is committed to Singapore and the ASEAN region and Raphael will assume a strategic role in the development and support of our customer markets there.

We warmly welcome Mr Raphael to Coltraco in Singapore.

Proud to Support the Indian Coast Guard

In co-operation with our Marine Partners in India, Navicom, we are pleased to announce the first fleet supply of Portascanner™ Watertight to the Indian Coast Guard for their new fleet of Offshore Patrol Vessel’s built by Goa Shipyard Limited and delivering 2016-17.

The fleet of 105 ¬metre new generation Offshore Patrol Vessel’s (OPV’s), increase the Coast Guard's requirements for policing of the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone and support other Coast Guard functions in search and rescue, pollution control, ocean surveillance and the monitoring of sea lanes of communication, a GSL release said. The vessels are also capable of supporting embarkation of India’s indigenously designed Advanced Light Helicopter.

It is with great pleasure that our Head of Marketing, Clare Hunter, is exhibiting and speaking at the conference this week in Singapore at the Marina Bay Sands with Mr Raphael , Ms Ann, Mr Royle, Ms Gina and Mr Boon who are our partners and ODA Service Centre in Singapore. We are very grateful to the British Society of Maritime Industries for their support to us all.

Elcome International Approved as ODA Service Centre Dubai, UAE

Elcome International, the leading marine solutions provider and system integrator in the Middle East has been appointed an authorized ODAService Center for Coltraco’s Portalevel™ MAX and Portascanner™ ultrasonic products at its headquarters facility in Dubai, UAE. “As an approved Coltraco ODA service station, we will provide annual re-calibration and first-line repairs at our technology centre in Dubai,” says Mr Prasanth Gopalakrishnan, Deputy General Manager Elcome International. “We are moving quickly to establish a team of factory-trained service engineers for the Coltraco products.”

“I warmly welcome Elcome who joins our growing network of Coltraco ODA Service Stations at strategic locations around the world,” said Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter, CEO of Coltraco Ultrasonics. “Elcome will enable us to provide prompt and efficient recalibration services and repairs for our products, in line with BS EN ISO 17025, the highest standard for calibration whilst minimizing downtime for our customers. We have been committed to the GCC for 25 years and look to it as a region of strategic significance and to its future with great confidence. We are wholly committed to the delivery and support of leading technologies to the Marine, Offshore and Naval sectors throughout the GCC countries.”

Elcome services over 600 vessels per month in the Arabian Gulf alone. The company is certified to ISO 9001:2008, ISO 14001:2004 and OHSAS 18001:2007 by DNV.

FIA Export Council Meeting – March 2016

2016 marks the 100th anniversary of the FIA and we wish to express our appreciation to Ms Tracy Kirk, Chairman of the Export Council and to Mr Ian Moore the Chief Executive of the FIA for kindly inviting us to this meeting which our CEO attended. We export over 85% of its output to 106 countries.

Annual Dinner of the Institute of Marine Engineers

The Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) will hold its Annual Dinner on Friday 18 March 2016 at the Guildhall in the City of London, bringing together 500 Marine Engineers, Master Mariners, Scientists and Technologists involved in the marine industry, from above water to subsea. Our CEO is a Fellow of the Institute and this year Coltraco Ultrasonics are proudly sponsoring the Dinner alongside Lloyds Register, Harris Pye, Wartsila, Bureau Veritas, and Brookes Bell and which Dorothy and Carl will attend with great pleasure.

Portalevel™ Intrinsically Safe ATEX approved Zone 1 is Coming

A glimpse of our forthcoming Portalevel™ Intrinsically Safe unit for you …

Exhibiting at Asia Pacific Maritime, Singapore 16-18 March 2016

We are exhibiting in Singapore this week at APM 2016 Singapore at the Marina Bay Sands Stand E-L11 in the UK Pavilion

We are proud to announce Portalevel™ Datalogger is now available in two configurations - Portalevel™ Datalogger for land-based applications and Portalevel™ Datalogger Marine which is fitted with a multi-bank Marine Extension Rod for 2-3-4 banked rows of cylinders. Allowing fire and marine servicing teams to input up to 1,000 cylinder readings and to download them to a PC.

International Women’s Day 8th March 2016

We are committed to equal pay and equal opportunities. Gender parity is promoted and we celebrate it. Women develop their roles to challenge themselves and utilise their skill sets to the advantage of the company and themselves and operate at all levels within the company.

Our Strategic Fire Safety Partner in India, Captain Amit Mehotra , celebrated Women’s Day in India on Sunday by sponsoring the Western Indian Automobile Association Car Rally. Captain Amit champions women in business saying, “India needs more women in business as they are the architects of society”.

Portalevel™ MAX Arrives in Iceland

It is with great pleasure that our UL-approved Portalevel™ MAX is now in service in Iceland with a major telecommunications, mobile phone operator and data centre provider. We thought you might like to see it “at home” in wonderful Iceland

Russian Register of Shipping Approval

It was with great pleasure that our CEO met Mr Lubomir Ernst, Regional Director Eastern & Central Europe in Bratislava last month. Dorothy and Carl enjoyed a fine meeting with the wonderful couple who Lubomir and Bronislava are and set our course to develop our business across our range of portable products and fixed monitoring systems across the region and launching the new website there www.portalevel.sk which is now live. We look forward to future meetings in Banski Bystrica.

New Shipping Advertisement

With Portamonitor™ bearing indicator being our first product dedicated to a vessel’s engine room, electrical and auxiliary machinery our Head of Marketing Clare has produced the following :

Exhibitions & Conferences March to April 2016

Our New Permalevel™ Multiplex Advert

The Integrity of Science & Engineering at our Core

We design and manufacture Safesite™ & Safeship™ technologies to enhance safety at customer critical infrastructure on land & at sea . This is enabled by developing great Science. As our Head of Research & Development, Mr Sam Watson remarks, “Physics leads our ability to conduct Engineering.” We are fortunate to have some fine Scientists around us, but in this we would like to pay tribute to Jade, Nicole and Luke for their extraordinary work on Permalevel™ Multiplex and also in the forthcoming Portasteele™ Calculator which will provide Fire Engineers with a simple tablet to establish level height and mass/weight of suppressants simultaneously. We look for very special people at Coltraco Ultrasonics who believe in the integrity of great Science and who enable the great Engineers around us to develop the leading products and systems we build – and which operate to deliver safety for our customers on land and at sea – but our Scientists work within and around our commercial teams so that the Science they work on becomes applied. It also means they have a range of interests. This watercolour was painted by Sadie who is also a Physicist.

Proud to be NFPA Members 2016

Portalevel™ Intrinsically Safe Zone 1 is Coming

Based on our UL-approved Portalevel™ MAX technology we are pleased to confirm that our certification track is now clear. We aim to be able to serve civil and military aerospace in the future.

Business in Bangladesh

We are committed to supporting business in Bangladesh and have great pleasure in announcing our Distributor into the Oil & Gas sector as Mr Rashidul Haque Managing Director of Sidney International in Dhaka.

IMPA Members

We are proud to be a Supplier Member of IMPA (International Marine Purchasing Association). We will be exhibiting at IMPA Singapore and IMPA London this year too. Our top marine products are listed in the Marine Stores Guide:

Portascanner™ Watertightp/n 652778

Portalevel™ MAX Marine p/n 652776

Portamarine™ p/n 652777

We are proud to be members of the VFDB (German Fire Protection Association) 2015

Next month we will be exhibiting at NAFED in Las Vegas, USA 03-04 March and Asia Pacific Maritime in Singapore 16-18 March. In April we will be exhibiting at Sea Japan in Tokyo and in May 2016 in Melbourne at Fire Australia

Portascanner™ Watertight ODA Service Centre in Singapore – February 2016

Our ODA Service Centre in Singapore is UKAS and Lloyds Register accredited and is now authorised to calibrate and repair Portascanner™ Watertight as well as our UL-approved Portalevel™ MAX. We are proud to be working with Key Solutions who will be joining our Head of Marketing at Asia Pacific Maritime at the Marine Bay Sands 16-18 March 2016.

New ODA Service Station in Dubai

It is with great pleasure that we are shortly to announce the appointment of our new ODA Service Centre in Dubai UAE for Portalevel™ MAX and Portascanner™ Watertight.

Portamonitor™ Bearing Indicator New Operating Instructions

Portamonitor™ is now in service with shipping companies for bearing and rotating machinery indication. A palm-sized unit we have also now launched our new Operating Instructions in a gloss white “pull-out” pocket-sized format. We have taken advice from former Chief Engineers and are proud that this product adds depth to our Marine Product Range and enables Vessel and Fleet Managers a range of products for the Deck in Portascanner™ Watertight and Portagauge™, the CO2 Room with Portamarine™ and the Engine Room with Portamonitor™. Our new Zone 1 ATEX-approved Portalevel™ Intrinsically Safe will be available shortly and is based on our UL-approved Portalevel™ MAX Marine and designed for Gas Carrier’s NOVEC™ 1230 fire suppression systems.

Interesting article from Chemours™ on IFP: “Mission Critical Facilities are not exempt from fire”

Visiting Trinidad and Tobago – January 2016

It is with great pleasure that our Head of Marketing & Communications, Clare Hunter has been visiting Partners and Customers in Trinidad last week. Coltraco are proud of our links to the Commonwealth and grateful to our many customers and for their support to us over 25 years.

Our Fire Safety Partner in Trinidad, Mr Ian Cole of Cole and Associates, and a Fire industry professional of international standing, has known our company for over 20 years and was our first customer in the West Indies for our original Portalevel™. We look forward to working with Ian, Vicki, Jason and the Cole team across our Permalevel™ Multiplex and UL-approved Portalevel™ MAX across FM-200™, NOVEC™ 1230 and CO2 applications and look forward to Cole & Associates becoming our ODA Service Centre in Trinidad and working alongside us managing our valued fire distribution partners in Trinidad. Clare visited our future our Marine Partners in Trinidad, meeting Mr John Lange, Mark, Ian, Dara and the team from Marine Consultants (Trinidad) Limited. We warmly welcome this exciting relationship. The friendships Clare has made in Trinidad are ones we value and we look forward to a strategic future between our companies in Trinidad and the United Kingdom.

Chinese Year of the Monkey

值此新春佳节之际，Coltraco Ultrasonics公司祝您春节快乐。祝您在新的一年里工作顺利，家庭美满，身体健康，万事如意！

During this special time, Coltraco Ultrasonics is here to wish you a happy Chinese New Year. Best wishes to you and your family. Hope that everything goes well with your work and health. May all go well with you!

Royal Institution of Naval Architects, London – 26-27 January 2016

We were honoured to be invited by RINA in London to give a presentation on Continuous Monitoring of Ships Watertight Integrity this week. As we develop our Portascanner™ Watertight product to our semi-continuous monitoring system Permascanner™ Hi-Life and on to 24/7 monitoring of ships hatch covers and offshore watertight compartment doors with Permascanner™ Dynamic we thank the Officers and Staff of RINA for this opportunity.

Portalevel™ - United States Patent and Trademark Office January 2016

It is with great pleasure that we have received the following from the USA Patent Office

Middle East Fuji - Marine Partner in the Middle East

It is with great pleasure that Middle East Fuji are our Marine Partner in the Middle East for Portascanner™ Watertight, Portamarine™, Portalevel™ MAX Marine, Portamonitor™ & Permascanner™ Watertight Dynamic. George Hunter, Director of Sales and our CEO spent last week with Captain Machado visiting Shipping & Ship Management customers in Dubai.

Captain Peter Machado COO of Middle East Fuji is an industry veteran and Master Mariner and was also one of our first Fleet users of Portascanner™ Watertight when he was with Kuwait Livestock and Trading. Captain Peter says, “COLTRACO’s Portascanner™ is the product that I am happy to endorse having used the product for many years in the challenging environment of large livestock carriers. Older ship conversions tended to be multipurpose 'tween deckers and reefer ships and in one unique case, a passenger ship. Watertight integrity was and remains critical as the most recent conversions have been car carriers, container ships and tankers. Portascanner™ is portable, easy to carry and use, and more importantly, very efficient. It is a rugged piece of equipment that actually does the job. Aspects that nudged me towards Portascanner™ include purchase price at good value, good warranty terms, the availability of spares and service stations at major hub ports”.

George says, “Captain Peter epitomises all we look for at Coltraco in a Marine Partner. A man of great kindness, honour and integrity. It is our great pleasure to work with this exceptional man and this fine global marine company, particularly now that we have our IMPA part numbers for which we are most grateful to the International Marine Purchasing Association”. Our CEO says, “Peter is a remarkable man, humble, modest and highly capable. As George rightly says, it is our great honour to work with Captain Machado and his fine team, including Ms Melanie and Mr Jibu at Middle East Fuji”.

Exhibiting at Intersec 2016 in Dubai 17-19th January 2016

Coltraco exhibited to 153 companies its range of portable UL-approved Portalevel™ MAX products and its fixed monitoring systems, Permalevel™ Multiplex and Permalevel™ Single Point which was recently installed at a GE aircraft engine fan blade manufacturing centre.

George Hunter, Director of Sales says, “Intersec 2016 provided a great opportunity to exhibit and to meet with our Customers, Partners and Distributors across the Middle East and Asia. Given our UL-approval we are strongly placed to be the partner of choice to monitor FM-200™, HFC-227, NOVEC™1230 & HFC-225 systems in the region, particularly those in complex installations such as High Rise Tower Buildings, Electricity Sub-Stations, Telecommunications and Transport systems. Intersec 2016 also provided our launch opportunity in the Middle East for our new bearing indicator, Portamonitor™

Our CEO Receives Honorary Doctor of Science from Durham University 15 January 2016

We are delighted to announce that our CEO, Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter has been awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science from Durham University. Carl is a Fellow of the Institute of Marine Engineers and a Member of the Royal Aeronautical Society, The Royal Institute for International Affairs (Chatham House) and the Royal Society for Asian Affairs. He maintains a focused Vision-Mission-Strategy approach to business and a commitment to integrity. He believes that Science and Mathematics should be at the core of the company and that Science and Arts graduates should combine their talents. Carl travels the world and is an outstanding ambassador for UK Business and Durham University.

Carl comments, “Professor Paula Chadwick is a kind and extraordinary Ambassador for Durham University. A Ground Based Gamma Ray Astronomer, Paula has influenced me and our scientific direction for many years. It is really to her and the University that I thank for this great honour, and indeed my wife and Family who have contributed so much over the years to enable this. In terms of the direction towards Science it is to Sam and my great friend, guide and mentor, Mr Gene House, formerly Managing Director of United Airlines, United Services, who opened my eyes to the world of aeronautical engineering. I thank you Paula, Dorothy, George, Clare, Henry, Mary, Sam, Douglas and Gene and to so many of you in research who so kindly support us.” Professor Paula Chadwick kindly mentioned in her Oration, “..Time and again I have heard Carl tell students that wherever they decide to go, they should look for a company that values them as human beings and will seek to develop their skills, and that both scientific and personal integrity is the bedrock of successful industry. Carl is running a remarkable company… Chancellor, I present Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter for the degree of Doctor of Science, honoris causa”.

Good news from one of our key customers: “Why Wallem is placing suppliers at the heart of its procurement strategy”

A Happy New Year 2016 and it is our great pleasure to introduce our Fire Safety Partner in Japan, Nichibou Company Limited in Tokyo. Mr Kenji Taniguchi san is the company’s esteemed President.

Mr Seiji Uehara, Manager Overseas Trading group, Special Equipment Section at Nichibou comments, “ We are very happy to announce that we will start an exclusive distributorship with Permalevel™ Multiplex, Permalevel™ Single Point, Portalevel™ MINI Nippon and Portalevel™ DATALOGGER in the Japanese Fire Protection market from this year. Our company’s principle is to ‘Achieve as many as No.1’s’ and our highly motivated and trained 160 service members in Japan are engaged energetically with Fire Protection System installation and maintenance and we are recognized with a wonderfully high reputation in Japan. Japan is one of the world’s most highly developed industrial nations, and is sadly facing recurring natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, and typhoons – but like the English we will keep smiling ! Therefore for Business Continuity and Secured Social & Critical Infrastructure it is imperative to plan and implement high technology monitoring systems to protect irreplaceable and critical infrastructure. In 2020, Japan will host the Tokyo Olympic Games and will welcome many people from all over the world. We are so honoured to contribute to prepare for a successful Olympic Games to protect relevant facilities in Japan with Coltraco’s state-of-the-art technology. I would like to send my deepest gratitude to Mr. Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter for being so generously patient in guiding us to this memorable moment. Thank you. “

Our CEO Mr Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter says, “For many years we have aimed to secure a partner in the Japanese fire safety market with the vision, capability and dynamism of Mr Taniguchi, the President of Nichibou Co. Ltd. During our discussions with Mr Uehara san and President Mr Taniguchi san, my most recent being in Seoul last month, I count our blessings that we are with this fine and honourable company. It is my belief that Portalevel™ MINI Nippon and Permalevel™ Multiplex will become certified and accepted in the Japanese fire market with flying colours and that our relationship with Nichibou will become the strategic partnership we have long aspired to creating in the wonderful country that Japan is and to which we are committed to supporting to protect its infrastructure and in the run-up to the Tokyo Olympics where our remote diagnostic, remote monitoring and autonomous data management capabilities will play a vital and essential role in ensuring the wonderful global event that Japan will host. I thank Nichibou Company Limited for this essential strategic partnership in Japan”

Committed to Science

Coltraco Ultrasonics is committed to working with gifted Scientists such as Mr Sam Watson our Head of Research & Development. Mr Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter, CEO of Coltraco says, “Sam is a shining example of personal and scientific leadership and has an ability to apply, guide, lead and re-orient when required. Sam applies our vision of excellence and our recognition that science is at the core of who we are.”

Mr Sam Watson comments, “Working with Coltraco has allowed me to stay close for my passion for good science while expanding and developing my leadership skills across a broad range of sectors. Working on such a broad range of projects for industries around the world is challenging, but the drive and focus of Coltraco to innovate and also to be leaders in change is an inspiring mission. I have found my own values and Coltraco’s align, and being able to apply good science practice to increase the safety and maintenance standards around the world is a phenomenal opportunity.

Portalevel™ Approved for Marine use by Russian Register of Shipping

It is with great pleasure that a wonderful customer of ours in Russia has received RRS approval to use Portalevel™ in marine servicing of ships CO2 systems. We are committed to support the Russian market with all our customers and our partners GIS Innovations. Thank you Henry for your fine work.

Portamonitor™ Bearing Indicator

To complement our Portascanner™ Watertight package, the miniature Portamonitor™ has been designed to test bearings and rotating machinery on board ships and Naval vessels. Trials are being conducted with a leading Navy shortly. The Portamonitor™ aids in the identification of mechanically deteriorated bearings and bearings with inadequate/contaminated lubricant. It does this by detecting high frequency (ultrasonic) stress waves associated with friction and other faults with machinery in poor condition (impacts etc.). It can be used to monitor bearings in motors, pumps, fans, gearboxes and other rotating machinery applications. It has two outputs – a decibel (dB) reading and a Distress® level which are both measured and displayed simultaneously by the Portamonitor™.

In addition to our standard after sales customer care, you can upgrade to our Portacare® plan. This is our 3 - 5 year total care maintenance and calibration package in line with proper calibration of measuring and monitoring equipment as advised by BS (British Standard) BS EN ISO 17025 , NIST, Indian Standards etc. UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service) is the sole body recognised by HM Government for assessing and accrediting the competence of calibration and testing laboratories. Their maximum calibration interval for sound intensity meters, like the Portalevel® is one year. UNIDO (United Nations Industry Development Organisation) and NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) also support regular calibration. UNIDO state that ‘… calibration is an essential activity in any measurement process.’NIST tells us ‘The calibration services of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are designed to help the makers and users of precision instruments achieve the highest possible levels of measurement quality and productivity.’

It is with great pleasure that we announce the appointment of Mr Lubomir Ernst to this strategic role as Regional Director of our operations in Central and Eastern Europe. Lubomir is a fire industry professional, a former Professional Pilot and a Graduate in Civil Aviation from the University of Transport and Telecommunications. Science is at our core and good science is one wholly based on Integrity and that is our binding value commercially too. Lubomir will act as our focal point in the establishment and maintenance of our distribution network across our products and systems throughout Eastern and Central Europe, with a special emphasis on developing our markets in critical infrastructure customers across the Fire Safety sector.

Mr Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter, our CEO says, “I warmly value Mr Ernst joining our company. As we evolve from a product manufacturer to one engaged in the manufacture of autonomous systems delivering remote diagnostics and remote monitoring of clean agent fire suppression systems it is vital that the high value customers we develop systems for are fully supported. We are grateful to Lubomir for extending to us his abundant skills and capabilities to further this. Lubomir is a skilled and capable communicator and a dynamic and effective business leader. I look forward a very much to developing our business in the fire, telecommunication, aerospace, mobile phone, electricity, gas and other sectors across Central and Eastern Europe with the able and wonderful man who Mr Lubomir Ernst is”.

Mr Lubomir Ernst says, "Within many years in fire safety sector I have met the importance of systems security. Thanks to Mr Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter I have a chance today to join the Coltraco organisation in such strategic role as Regional Director Central & Eastern Europe. I am very pleased to work directly with him in that great way of easy negotiating and understanding. Thank You Carl."

It has been a pleasure to work with our partners, network, customers and suppliers this year and we thank you all. I look forward to continuing in 2016 and generating good business for our companies.

We have an exciting vision and mission for developing our company to deliver Safesite™ & Safeship™ monitoring technologies to enhance safety at customer critical infrastructure on land and at sea. We have a strong Research & Development track and a growth strategy with our global network, thanks to partners like you.

May I wish you and your families a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from myself and our team at Coltraco Ultrasonics in London!

C S P Hunter CEO

Introducing Captain Amit Raj Mehrotra – Fire Safety Partner in India

It is with great pleasure that we announce Captain Amit Mehotra as our Fire Safety Partner in India. Our CEO Mr Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter says, “Captain Amit is an honourable, highly professional and dynamic leader. It gives me great pleasure to welcome Amit to the company where he will be responsible for shaping and implementing our strategic direction in India and establishing a national dealer network for our range of portable Portalevel™ MAX, Portalevel™ DATALOGGER , our new hands-free Portalevel™ MINI and our Zone 1 ATEX approved Portalevel™ INTRINSICALLY SAFE model types for CO2, the old Halons, FM-200™ , NOVEC™ 1230 and HFC-225 & 227, whilst being our Strategic Partner in India for our leading edge technology monitoring system, Permalevel™ MULTIPLEX. Captain Amit will establish a Coltraco ODA Service Station for these equipment types in India at his fine company Intime Fire. We wish to honour Captain Amit and his family and are proud to be teamed with the company which Captain Amit’s Father founded”.

Captain Amit comments, “When I came ashore after commanding at sea as a Master Mariner it was always my vision to honour my Father and re-create the great reputation which he had established across India at Intime Fire. Mr Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter gave me great encouragement and as a keen observer and devotee of the Indian Sub-continent that he is I warmly welcome this great opportunity to work alongside him and support his vision to bring Coltraco’s technology to India across the full spectrum of its fixed and portable monitoring capabilities and to support their installation, calibration and repair in accordance with Indian Standards which demand that calibration is undertaken every 12-16 months. I look forward to Coltraco Ultrasonics becoming a domiciled presence in India. I encourage candidate dealers across India to rally now to Coltraco’s leading technology portfolio and brand. I hope to arrange Customer seminars in India soon, building on the keen interest that the Indian Fire Trade Press is stimulating across India and we will be exhibiting Coltraco products at Fire South India later this year”.

Coltraco Postgraduates !

Dorothy and George have recently graduated with their Masters degrees from London University and Westminster University. Both are shining beacons of determination having undertaken these as part-time postgraduate degrees that they completed whilst working. We wish them all and thoroughly well-deserved Congratulations !

Introducing General Manager, Fire Safety in China

It is with great pleasure that we announce the appointment of Mr David Cao as GM, Fire Safety - Coltraco China. Our CEO Mr Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter says, “We warmly welcome Mr David Cao as our company’s General Manager, Fire Safety in China. An industry professional, David will kindly help oversee our Fire Safety operations in China for both our portable Portalevel™ range of products and our fixed monitoring system for CO2, HFC-227, FM-200™ & NOVEC™ 1230, Permalevel™ Multiplex, developing and co-ordinating our Partner companies and Distribution network in China and supporting the business development of customers in critical infrastructure and our presence in China. It is with great pleasure that we welcome Mr David Cao.”

Mr David Cao comments, “I am pleased to have this opportunity of supporting Coltraco Ultrasonics in China with their range of highly accurate gaseous suppression monitoring products and systems. I look forward to working with Coltraco’s Chief Executive Officer and the Coltraco team in the months and years ahead.”

Our Commitment to Korea

Meetings were held with the leadership and senior management of our partner companies Kunkook, L and P, Gofire and Wonwoo.

Mr Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter says "We have a commitment to Asia and a special commitment to Korea. I am very grateful that Mr Andrew Kim is leading the development of our Customer and Distribution Partner relationships in Korea. It was my great privilege to meet our Partner companies and to chart our marketing plans with them for PortalevelTM MAX, PortalevelTM Datalogger, PortalevelTM MINI and PermalevelTM Multiplex. I greatly admire Korea and its people and have done for many years since spending time there with the British UN Honour Guard in the late 1980's."

Introducing our Country Manager for Italy

It is with great pleasure that Signor Alberto Faravelli has joined the company as Coltraco’s Country Manager. Based in Genoa Alberto is an industry professional with special expertise in gaseous suppressions systems. Our CEO Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter says, “We warmly welcome Signor Faravelli to the company. Italy is a strategic country for our company particularly across our range of CO2, FM200™ and NOVEC™ 1230 monitoring systems and products and Alberto brings to the company a great depth of experience and relationships to this essential role. I wish him all happiness with us and offer my best wishes to Alberto and his family.”

Mr Alberto Faraveli comments, “Being the Italian Country Manager makes me feel proud not only because of the Importance of the Company but also because of the highest technological level of its products. In particular I see high potential for the Permalevel™ Multiplex that is an unmatchable innovation if compared with traditional units. Once instructed on its potential, final users and fire suppression installers will not be able work without it. This is a most exciting time.”

RMS Marine Supply at Marintec 2015 – Our Marine Partners in China

It is with great pleasure that Coltraco and RMS Marine Supply co-exhibited at MARINTEC 2015 in Shanghai last week. Led by the wonderful and professional Ms Cindy Fan, Vice President, RMS very kindly supported the stand with a wonderful team from RMS. Meeting customer shipowners and ship builders across China Coltraco and RMS are working jointly across our Portascanner™ Watertight and our IMO SOLAS compliant Portalevel™ MAX Marine and Portamarine™ model types all of which have IMPA part numbers. Our CEO Mr Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter says, “Rarely have I met such a professional, welcoming and dynamic sales organisation as I have in RMS Marine Supply. I am proud to be working with Ms Cindy Fan and her extraordinary team and thank Ms Amy and her colleagues for their support to us throughout MARINTEC 2015 in Shanghai.”

Ms Cindy Fan comments , “We are proud to be Coltraco Ultrasonics Marine Partner in China. The Chinese market has hundreds of supply and service companies. We cannot compete only on price. We have to build a sustainable competitive advantage. We believe that is achieved through customer care. We have a strong customer base that we have built over 20 years, and right now, RMS is supplying more than 1,000 vessels and other service contracts for more than 200 vessels per month. Putting our customers first and focusing on quality is what has set us apart. Our success is mainly from our people. We are built by teamwork at RMS. We have a very high performing team. Our most important difference therefore is the people that are performing the service. We spend time selecting good people, training them and helping them to build their strengths.We look forward to working with Coltraco in China.”

Meeting our Malaysian Marine Partner at Marintec this week - Nov 2015

We had the great pleasure of meeting our Marine Partner in Malaysia, Mr Jimmy Wong, Managing Director of Keisha Marine today in Shanghai at Marintec 2015. Pictured here is Mr Wong (left) with our Head of Sales Mrs Karen Jones (right).

Coltraco confirms new partner SMS at Marintec for South Korean Shipbuilding industry for Portascanner® Watertight

Our CEO is delighted to announce a new partnership with SMS Korea Co., Ltd.. See here Ms Palm, Senior Director of SMS with our CEO Mr Carl Hunter. Based in Busan, Korea SMS will be our partner in the shipbuilding industry. They will be supporting our Portascanner® Watertight ultrasonic watertight integrity test indicator for checking hatch-covers, doors and cable transits on vessels. We are pleased to be working with SMS and promoting our new Portascanner® Watertight which has evolved throughout the last 20 years (scroll down to see previous post “Portascanner™ Watertight Integrity Indicator Modifications – Shipmanagement Company Award Oct 2015”)

New Product Launch – PORTALEVEL™ MINI – Dec 2015

We are pleased to release PORTALEVEL™ MINI a new design based on our Portamarine™ unit. Designed for users testing CO2, FM-200® and NOVEC™1230, PORTALEVEL™ MINI features two D-ring eyelets so that users can test cylinders “hands free” by attaching a carrying strap to it. It is the length of a pen ! 154mm or 6 inches. Featuring a bright vertical LED bargraph and LED digital display it is ideal for low light testing environments. Coltraco Ultrasonics has a world-leading capability in this field and a commitment to life and asset safety. Coltraco Ultrasonics is a Safesite™ company.

UK Maritime Industries – Looking to the Future Conference in London November 2015

Coltraco Ultrasonics was invited to attend the UK Maritime Industries – Looking to the Future Conference in London this week. There is wonderful work being undertaken in the marine technology space in the UK ably supported by various UK Government departments including the Department for Business Innovation & Skills, the Department of Transport, Defence Science and Technology Laboratory aiming to maximise the impact of UK science and technology on global marine markets. As a former First Sea Lord remarked, “the Royal Navy will lead and win through the innovation and robust exploitation of maritime autonomous systems.” Coltraco aims to be at the forefront of marine technology as a centre for design, engineering and development.

L&P Co. Limited, Korea - Special Projects with Coltraco

It is with great pleasure that we have finalized an agreement commenced by Mr George Hunter at Fire Expo Korea in May 2015. Mr Chang Pyung ,Chung Int. P.E fire, Chairman , L&P Co.,LTD, says : “It is our great pleasure to be a Coltraco Ultrasonics Ltd strategic partner for developing Permalevel™ market in Korea. L&P is sure that our working together will help fire protection and loss prevention effectively. “

We are proud to be working with Mr Andrew Kim who is our partner in the Fire Safety market in South Korea. He is already highly engaged with our distributors in Korea. He is opening up the Korean market and educating our customers there as to the benefits of ultrasonic technology for monitoring fire suppression systems, instead of using radioactive equipment. Our CEO Mr Carl Hunter enjoyed meeting him at KorMarine 2015 when Andrew told him:

I’m delighted to start working as its member with Coltraco for its wonderful ultrasonic liquid level indicators in the Korean fire safety market.

It was always a headache to find an excellent liquid level indicator for gaseous fire extinguishing agents while I was working at Siemens Korea where I was responsible for the industrial plant market as a managing director. Korea has been using radioactive liquid level indicators for gaseous fire extinguishing systems such as CO2, FM-200, NOVEC, FE-13, and HFC-125, but the specific radioactive LLI has caused a lot of problems in Korea, partly due to the proper radioactive source handling and removal issue and the necessity of hiring a radiation expert at each company. There seemed to be no alternatives to the radioactive LLI until I have found these wide range of wonderful, safe-to-use, and environmentally-friendly LLI models of Coltraco.

I’m also very grateful to Coltraco people for their sincere support and information on invaluable Coltraco products.”

If you are in Korea and would like to work with us through Andrew, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and copy in This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Coltraco Joins FIA Annual General Meeting

It was with great pleasure that our CEO Mr Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter joined the AGM of the UK Fire Industry Association in London saying, “We are proud to be an active member of the FIA and welcome and applaud the FIA in their fine efforts to promote and improve professional standards in the UK fire industry. ”

Portascanner TM has a proud marine history first manufactured in 1993 and winner of the Safety at Sea Award in 1994 when we produced the world’s first omni-directional “hedgehog design” Supplementary Bulk Generator. Please see the old unit below compared to the new design. Today, our Marine Department’s new Portascanner™II Watertight has recently won an Indian Navy contract and this week a Shipmanagement Company award too. Now featuring a robust carrying strap D-Ring so that operators can fix a shoulder strap on the unit when moving around the vessel, this unit now features dual Decibel & Mathematical displays, Classification Society approval, accuracy of +/-0.06mm, and the magnetised Generator is now the length of a pen but producing more ultrasound than the old “hedgehog” design, all in a lightweight, ergonomic marinised design format . It is used for hatch-covers, multiple cable transit areas and watertight compartment doors and in service with some of the world’s leading Shipmanagement companies and Navies. Designed by the company with 27 years of sea and Admiralty Research Laboratories experience and supported by our ODA Service Stations overseas in USA, Norway, India and Singapore. No IATA transportation restrictions and no liquid batteries. Training is free. IMPA Part Number 652778

Exhibiting at China Fire in Beijing with TANDA Technology October 2015

Mr Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter, our CEO, was kindly invited to spend valued time with Mr Song, President of TANDA Technology at China Fire 2015 where Portalevel™ MAX was launched in the China Fire safety market on their stand at the exhibition. This was wonderfully arranged by our partner company in Singapore Multron Systems whose Managing Director, Mr Wong, has been a longstanding friend and colleague of the company. Mr Hunter says, “It is with pleasure that as we advance our relationship with Multron Systems to be our Fire Safety partner in South East Asia, Mr Wong and Ms Karen have kindly enabled the possibility of a teaming with Tanda Technology in the Fire Safety market in China. This strategic opportunity is something we value and I am grateful to Mr Song and Mr Wong for their time, and to Mr Wan Yue Min and the staff at Tanda, for their courtesy and kind assistance during my time with them in Beijing.”

Visiting Kormarine 2015 in Busan, Korea - October 2015

Our commitment to growth in the Korean market continues. Building on Mr George Hunter’s exhibiting of Portalevel™ MAX with Kunkook E&I at Korean Fire Expo 2015 in May, our CEO and Fellow of the Institute of Marine Engineers, Mr Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter, visited Kormarine 2015 in Busan last week. Meeting customers, agents and partner companies from Korea and across the Asian region Mr Hunter says, “As the 11th largest economy in the world we have a vision for growth across our fire safety and marine market sectors in Korea. As the leading shipbuilding nation in the world building over 40% of the world’s ships it gives me much pleasure that our partnerships with substantive entities in Korea continue to grow. Our development of Portalevel™ MAX Marine Intrinsically Safety for Gas Carriers is very much focused on Korea, the home of today’s LNG/LPG vessel newbuildings. We look forward to returning to Korea in the months ahead.”

Commitment to Asia October 2015

Over the last week we have met with some of our existing and candidate Asian partners including Kunkook E&I in Korea and Keisha Marine in Malaysia. At Marintec 2015 in Shanghai in December it is hoped that we will consolidate our growing relationship with RMS Marine Services in China.

Coltraco Alliance Agreement with MAB Group of Companies Pakistan

We are proud to announce that leading fire safety company MAB Group of Companies have become our Permalevel™ Multiplex strategic partners and our authorised distributor in Pakistan for our UL-approved Portalevel™ MAX and its marine variant Portalevel™ MAX Marine. We have had the honour of knowing Captain Syed Ali, Master Mariner for over 20 years. Ably supported by General Manager Mr Salman Ahmed we look forward greatly to supporting high value asset customers in Government and the private sectors alike. It is hoped that MAB Group will become operational as our ODA Service Station in 2016 to enable stocking, installation, commissioning, maintenance, repairs and calibration to be conducted in-country for the first time in 25 years.

Our CEO in the House of Commons with the British Marine Industry 15 October 2015

Our CEO Mr Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter FIMarEST was kindly invited by the UK Shipbuilders and Ship Repairers Association to attend the House of Commons in Westminster with Maritime UK and the Minister of State for Innovation and British civil servants from the British Government Department for Business, and its agency United Kingdom Trade and Investment today. We are most grateful to the SSA for their kind invitation as we are for the encouragement and support received from the UK Marine Industry and our Government Department agency UKTI. London remains the leading maritime centre globally and our company is proud to be a part of it in regard to our special capabilities in monitoring ships watertight integrity and marine suppression systems globally in both commercial marine and Naval markets worldwide.

Exhibiting in Delhi at Fire India 5-7th October 2015

Mr Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter, our CEO, spent the week in Delhi exhibiting with our Fire Safety Partner in India, Captain Amit Raj Mehrotra, Managing Director of Intime Fire, meeting over 130 customers and distributors. We are very grateful to Captain Amit, Master Mariner, for his wonderful hosting and we thank him and his team. Coltraco are looking to appoint Intime Fire as our ODA Service Station for Portalevel™ MAX in the Indian Fire Safety Market by January 2016, so that Indian fire customers can calibrate and repair their units in India. Fire India 2015 provided a wonderful opportunity to meet friends and customers alike. Some of our first customers in India were there at the show and we are proud to have served the India fire market for 20 years, starting with our first ever customer, Nuclear Power Corporation Limited and extending on to some of the finest Fire companies in India since.

It is with great pleasure that Captain Amit, Managing Director, Intime Fire, Bombay, has released the new company brochure featuring both our portable Portalevel® and Permalevel® fixed monitoring solutions. We will release an update about our exhibition with Intime at Fire India, New Delhi later this week.

Coltraco in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman – OFSEC September 2015

Mr George Hunter, Director of Sales and Mr Arthur Airey, Sales & Marketing exhibited at Oman Fire and Security 2015 in Muscat, Oman last month meeting over 100 customers across fire, offshore oil and gas, airports, Royal Air Force of Oman, power generating and building infrastructure. We have always been close to our friends in the Sultanate of Oman and it was our great privilege to exhibit in the wonderful country that Oman is and meet some of our customers and our distributors there Addhia Trading. We make very special thanks to Addhia’s Managing Director and Mr Jose and Mr Cesar. We exhibited our Portalevel™ MAX for Oman’s growing installation of FM-200™ and NOVEC™ 1230 and our cylinder thickness gauge, Portagauge™ 3 and were proud and grateful that so many visitors came to see us from other GCC countries. Coltraco is supported to developing strong relationships with our GCC partner countries.

Ms Clare Hunter, now Head of Marketing & Communications at the company travelled to India with our CEO to exhibit at SMM India 2015 in Bombay with our Naval and Shipping partners Navicom. Meeting over 120 customers and partner companies. We are exceptionally grateful to Navicom for their fine and generous hosting. After a wonderful week in Bombay visiting customers in ship management, shipping and airline customer companies they travelled to Calcutta to visit NCGB our Marine Department ODA Service Station with nationwide branches across India enabling Indian customers to calibrate and repair their units in India for the first time in 20 years. We are grateful to the leadership of NCGB Marine for so kindly hosting us in Calcutta. We are delighted to announce our Indian Navy contract for Portascanner™ Watertight and are proud of our service to so many Navies around the world.

Coltraco at Fire Disaster Asia 2015 Singapore Exhibition

Ms Karen is in Singapore at FDA Singapore at the Marina Bay Sands Hotel 28 September – 01 October 2015 exhibiting our UL-listed Portalevel™ MAX unit with Multron Systems. Our company has close and long-standing ties with Singapore and this is a wonderful opportunity to meet our friends and customers there as we seek to develop opportunities for our 24/7 fixed monitoring system for automatic suppression systems containing NOVEC™ 1230 and FM-200™ with Permalevel™ Multiplex. We have now established our ODA Service Station with Key Solutions in Singapore for the Portalevel™ MAX unit to enable our Singaporean customers to calibrate and repair their units locally.

Exhibiting at NEVA 2015 The International Maritime Exhibition and Conferences of Russia

22 – 25 September 2015, St Petersburg, Russia

We were very proud to be exhibiting at NEVA 2015. Hosted by our Marine Partners in Russia, GIA Innovations, Mr Henry Hunter met 60 customers across the Russian shipping, marine servicing, marine surveying, engineering and offshore oil and gas sectors including, our friends at SovComFlot and the world-leading JSC Rosenergoatom. Mr Alexander Petrov is our focal point at GIS Innovations, a wonderful and successful company owned by Mr Igor Moryakov and we are pleased to announce that GIS innovations are now our exclusive Marine Partner in Russia. We plan to conduct joint marketing operations to succeed in the Russian Navy and to expand our commercial presence and operations in Russia through the dynamic and professional efforts of our longstanding friends at GIS Innovations.

Exhibiting at IMPA, London – Sept 2015

Last week 9th-10th Septemeber we were pleased to exhibit at the IMPA Exhibition. Carl, Clare and Karen hosted at the QEII Exhibition Centre near Westminster Abbey. We were also delighted to welcome Georgia who has started working for us this Summer in the marketing side. It was a successful show meeting customers new and old and developing our relationships with our friends in the marine industry. We will also be growing our network of ship suppliers who are able to provide our Coltraco® range worldwide too. Email Clare at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to find out where you can purchase our products from

It was a good showcase of our core marine products which are now listed in the Marine Stores Guide:

We are delighted to announce that our partner in Taiwan, Asahi Sunrise Co., Ltd., was exhibiting and advertising on our behalf at Fire & Safety Road Show last week. It was a successful show and we are pleased to be developing our presence in the fire sector in Taiwan.

Allen Lu

Asahi Sunrise Co., Ltd.

Taipei, Taiwan

TEL: +886-2-87725337,87725338

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New Portascanner™ II Watertight released July 2015

We are pleased to announce the release of our newly upgraded Portascanner™ II Watertight Integrity test indicator which is going into Naval service this month. Featuring dual Decibel & Mathematical readings in the display the unit is the most mathematically accurate in the world, lightweight, intuitive to use and supported by our world class and free Technical Training. Carrying clips will be added next month so that operators can operate hands-free.

Coltraco advertising now seen in Korea!

Coltraco’s First Service Station in Singapore with Key Solutions

We are delighted to announce we have teamed with Key Solutions in Singapore to open our first ODA service station in the country.

Key Solutions have signed as our ODA (Organisational Delegated Authority) to conduct the after sales servicing and calibrations for our customers in Singapore. Our CEO, Carl S P Hunter, spent time with Raphael and his team at Key Solutions in Singapore last week. This is very welcome news. This is a key offering to our customers in Singapore, and other customers in South East Asia who would prefer to send their Coltraco equipment to a local service centre rather than back to the Head Office in the UK.

“Key Solutions is recognized and respected for its knowledge and expertise in one of the world’s most specialized assembly, process and production industries. We provide unparalleled quality services to clients around the globe. We are pleased to become Coltraco’s ODA Service Station in Singapore” said Key Solution’s CEO, Raphael.

We will work closely with Key Solutions to ensure all our customers receive the same excellent customer service and quality work that they experience in the UK.

We welcome any customers interested in sending their equipment for calibration to get in touch with Raphael and our Support team on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with any queries.

Exhibiting at the NFPA Expo in Chicago June 2015

Karen and Laura are exhibiting this week at the NFPA Expo and Conference in Chicago. On the stand will be a module of our fixed monitoring system, Permalevel™ multiplex, plus our range of UL-listed Portalevel™ MAX units for fire companies and fire and safety managers and our Portalevel™ MAX Marine units for marine servicing companies.

Exhibiting at Interschutz, Hanover, Germany 8-12th June 2015

We were proud to be exhibiting at Interschutz, and had the great pleasure of meeting Customers and Distributors around the world. We took the opportunity of launching our Portasteele(TM) Calculator which will be available on a 7" tablet and enable users to verify their Portalevel(TM) readings mathematically. Also at he show we launched our 1,000 reading Portalevel(TM) Datalogger so that users can download and record their cylinder readings into evidential customer reports.

Henry and George greatly enjoyed their time at the show and enjoyed dinners with customers and industry media executives.

Exhibiting at Fire Expo Korea May 2015

It was with great pleasure that George Hunter, Director of Sales, joined our partner companies who were exhibiting at Fire Expo Korea this month. In addition George visited customers in Seoul and Busan and worked with one of Korea’s leading fire engineering companies on the launch of our new NOVEC™ 1230 Level Calculator

Ms Karen Jones exhibited our Portalevel™ MAX Marine & Portascanner™ at the East Mediterranean Oil & Gas Conference in Limassol this week meeting our Ship Management customers in Limassol, a candidate Distributor in the fire protection industry and a number of Oil and Gas companies. Our partner company in Cyprus-based oil and gas customers is Fameline and we thank Fameline’s Managing Director Mr Demetris Hadjigeorgiou for his wonderful kindness and courtesy in arranging this.

Exhibiting at Sea Asia, Singapore 21-23 April 2015

George and Henry exhibiting at Sea Asia Conference & Exhibition at in Singapore. Coltraco Ultrasonics deep and historic links with Singapore’s shipping & marine community have always meant much to us. Our aim is to deliver Safeship™ technologies to enhance ship safety at sea and in this we are proud to show our core fire suppression system and watertight integrity monitoring technologies at Sea Asia. Our especial links with IMC Shipping and many other shipping & ship management companies continues to grow and develop and we have had the great pleasure of fitting out a number of fleets there in the last year.

Building Technology highlights importance of continuous monitoring of fire suppression systems in data centres to improve business continuity

Exhibiting at Fire Australia 2015 in Brisbane 23-25 March 2015

Karen Jones, Manager Sales and Marketing is visiting Melbourne to see customers and supporting Kidde Australia who are exhibiting Permalevel Multiplex on their stand at Fire Australia 2015 in Brisbane.

Coltraco Youtube Channel

The Coltraco Youtube channel has become a great resource for existing and news customers alike. We now have over 12,400 views across over 14 videos covering our key product offerings including the new Portagauge® III and Portascanner® II videos. We will continue to develop this to serve and educate our customers. We are producing a new series of introductory videos that display in detail the different parts of each product. This will allow the customer to get a virtual first-hand perspective of the features and quality of the product. This is displayed in the new Portalevel® Max Marine Introductory video.

Coltraco Opening Hong Kong Office in April 2015

Our CEO, Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter visited Hong Kong and we are proud to announce that we are opening our office there next month in April.

Carl says, “The dynamism of Hong Kong and its people are extraordinary and always inspire us. After 25 years operating in Hong Kong, with some of our longest customer relationships there, it is natural for us to establish our first Asian representative office in this wonderful city.”

George Visits Singapore February 2015

George our Director of Sales joined our CEO in Singapore again last month visiting our Shipping & marine servicing company customers, some of whom have been working with us for 20 years now.

George says, “Singapore has created a wonderful environment for its people. It wants to succeed and it does. Our Customers there are leaders in their fields and it is my great pleasure to visit and work with them”

Coltraco keeps up to date with industry news and regulations through top associations

We are proud to be members and affiliates of the following associations which are all top of their field. Through these associations we are able to stay up to date with the latest industry specific news and regulations. Not only that, but some of these associations have exhibitions which we have been exhibiting at and will be exhibiting at in 2015 to meet our customers and peers in person.

Intersec Dubai 18-20th February 2015

Achieved ISO14001 Environmental Management approval

We are pleased to celebrate our new ISO 14001 Environmental Management Certification. With thanks to one of the team, Dorothy, for achieving this for us and focusing on the green footprint our company generates . This joins our ISO 9001 approval which we have had for many years. Please find below the certificate:

Asia Pacific Fire – online – Jan 2015

IMarEst Technical Meeting, Dubai UAE this January 2015

Economist heralds brilliance of container ships and shopping industry

CEO Visits IMC Shipping in Singapore

Earlier last month, our CEO visited our marine partner in Singapore, IMC Shipping meeting some of IMC’s Directors and their senior Sales Manager Mr Edwin Chan. Mr Hunter commented, “It is remarkable that IMC Shipping were our first fleet customer for Portascanner™ over 15 years ago, to test the watertight integrity of their fleets hatch-covers and seals, and today are our partners in Singapore shipping. Through Edwin’s professionalism and decency our family have established mutual and strong relationships. I thank him and his company for his kindness to my Family and to the Company. Edwin is a remarkable and special man.”

A common challenge for installations with widespread Multiple Cable Transit areas (MCT’s) is the ability to easily and reliably inspect the seals, to ensure they are fit for purpose. Different MCT’s have significant impacts on the safety aspect of an installation, whether it be protecting against fire and smoke, water ingress as part of a Bulkhead or providing other airtight and watertight seals. These are commonly found throughout Offshore Oil and Gas Installations, Commercial Shipping Vessels, Naval Vessels, Power Stations and other similar facilities.

The Portascanner® II provides a highly accurate, quick and efficient method to check these seals and uses ultrasonic technology to determine if any leaks are present in the seal. These are incredibly hard to identify using visual inspections and pressure tests are often too time consuming to be pragmatic. This unit is proven for this application, the most mathematically accurate unit in the world and is the unit of choice across a number of MCT installers, Offshore Oil and Gas operators, Shipping companies and Naval surface and sub-surface vessels.

Portalevel™ Original Now Available

Designed to be the cheapest Portable Liquid Level Indicator in the world Portalevel™ Original uses the same 15 year old baseline technology from the original Portalevel™ in an updated format. Recognising that there are customers who cannot afford or do not need the advanced capabilities of some of our higher model types the unit is designed as a quality and fit-for-purpose product for fire suppression system contents monitoring.

Mr George Hunter, Director of Sales, says, “People understand that the newer models are better, but if a customer really cannot afford a high-end model or if they simply do not need it, then they can still access a quality product in Portalevel™ Original. In line with our commitment to support customers for the life-cycle of our products, they can use trade-in credits on the value of this unit and use them to purchase higher model types at any time later.”

UL Listing for Portalevel™ MAX

Coltraco Ultrasonics have received UL listing for their Portalevel™ MAX liquid level indicator. It is in a small hand-sized enclosure, engineered with incredibly high build quality and the most mathematically accurate unit in the world for NOVEC™ 1230, FM-200™, CO2, FE-13™, FE-25™ and FE-36™. Designed specifically for fire engineers and also available in a marine configuration for SOLAS compliance as Portalevel™ MAX Marine for 2-3-4 banked rows of CO2 cylinders. Our uppermost commitment is to deliver best practises commercially and technically and to be the leading technology provider in our design and manufacturing.

Air Vice-Marshal David R. Hawkins-Leth CB LVO MBE DL RAF (Retd) Appointed Head of Defence and Government Relations

David, a graduate of the RMA Sandhurst and the NATO Defence College, comes to Coltraco from a military career in Royal Air Force Security. Formerly he was a Director of the Defence Fire Services, the Commandant General of the RAF Regiment and Director-General of RAF Security, Deputy Black Rod in the House of Lords within the UK Houses of Parliament and subsequently he held several consultancy appointments and Directorships. David is married to a Danish dental surgeon and they spend their time between their homes in the UK and Denmark when not travelling to other countries around the world. We wish David every success within the Coltraco family.

David says, “I am delighted to join and support Coltraco Ultrasonics. Its people, products and systems are of the very highest quality and its mission appeals me greatly, not least Coltraco’s commitment to be a leading British technology OEM of integrity. I look forward to supporting their growth in the Defence markets, particularly with Permalevel™ Multiplex, a system which will add to risk managing of sensitive Government installations, ordnance facilities, telecommunication and data centres. I look forward to building on the successful work undertaken by the company with the Royal Navy in the respective fields of clean agent suppression system monitoring and watertight integrity testing.”

Carl our Chief Executive says, “ I am delighted that David has joined the company. David is an inspiring leader who has kindly guided me across various matters for some years now. His kindness to my family is typical of his selfless encouragement to younger people. We have a clear aim to support Defence Forces globally with our unique capability mix across products and complex systems predicated on strong relationships that reflect our values and our wish to contribute to increased safety management at sea, on land and in the air. This will be ably led by David”

November Travels

We have enjoyed a very busy month with trips to the Netherlands, Singapore on the 5th where Carl met some of our fantastic existing partners and exciting potentials for our Permalevel® system. Following this Carl was over to Kuwait with another exciting meeting with a candidate strategic partner in Kuwait for Permalevel® and a new customer in the offshore industry. Dubai was the next calling point where Carl was delighted to meet with Middle East Fuji at their offices (picture included). There are strong prospects for our two companies to work together so I am sure we will keep you updated on this in future! We are also developing relationship with a potential partner in Saudi Arabia.

October Travels

As already noted, October took us on a successful trip to Russia led by Henry. Carl was off to the USA to Boston where he had progressive meetings with UTC about the Permalevel® Multiplex system. And finally Carl went to Serbia to round off the month.

Chubb Qatar announced as Exclusive Strategic Partner for Permalevel™ Multiplex in Qatar

It is with great pleasure that Coltraco Ultrasonics and Chubb Fire Qatar - International Gulf Trading Company (IGTC) have agreed mutual exclusivity to establish Chubb Qatar as the exclusive strategic partner to market and distribute the 24/7 clean agent monitoring system Permalevel™ Multiplex in the State of Qatar, aiming to install the system in high value customer markets in Qatar’s Museums, Libraries, Oil & Gas companies, Data Centres, banks, Mobile Phone and Telecommunications operators and Power Generating & Electricity and Gas Distribution companies.

Two centuries of history and innovation have made Chubb into a global leader in fire protection and security solutions. Chubb PLC employs 48,000 people around the world supplying systems and services to most of the world’s leading companies and organisations. Chubb Fire Qatar designs, installs, maintains and supports equipments and systems utilizing the latest technologies and looking after the security and fire protection needs of multi-site corporations and industrial concerns, as well as small single site users.

Chubb Fire Qatar was established in the 1970’s as part of International Gulf Trading Company, IGTC, and became a leader in security and fire services and has gained a solid reputation for quality products and services. The company’s strengths are underpinned by a global infrastructure, a highly skilled and experienced workforce, a diverse range of quality products and services and a reputation for service excellence. Recognised as one of the most respected names in high risk fire and security solutions, Chubb Fire Qatar products are used by architects, design consultants, consulting engineers, HSE managers, fire brigades, security managers and consumers requiring a higher level of security and safety for their business and domestic premises.

Mr Rami Al Batrawi, General Manager of IGTC-Chubb Fire Qatar says, “As a total capability company Chubb Fire Qatar is ideally positioned to deliver Permalevel™ Multiplex to customers in the State of Qatar. I believe Permalevel™ Multiplex is a great product, and that this will be a mutually beneficial relationship to support our premier safety-aware customers with the need to monitor their clean agent suppression systems 24/7 in the State of Qatar, adding a layer of capability to further de-risk their fire safety operations and help deliver business continuity in their operations and infrastructure.”

Mr Carl S P Hunter, CEO of Coltraco Ultrasonics says, “In Chubb Fire Qatar we have a strategic partner with the professionalism and depth of fire and security engineering subject matter knowledge required to support the successful distribution of Permalevel™ Multiplex into Qatari customers who value business continuity with high value NOVEC™1230 and FM-200™ installations protecting their safety-critical infrastructure. I am proud that this relationship with Chubb Fire Qatar has been created and offer my best wishes to Mr Rami Al Batrawi, and his team to succeed in the delivery of this highly capable and accurate clean agent monitoring system.”

Announcing Dante Extincteurs as exclusive Coltraco ODA Service Station in France & Monaco

It is with great pleasure that Dante Extincteurs is now our exclusive ODA service Station in France and Monaco. Founded in 1976, Dante specializes in marine fire-fighting and fire protection, accumulating an unequalled amount of experience and knowledge in this field. Yearly more than 400 yachts & Superyachts are visited by the company's technicians for the inspection and service of their fire-fighting equipment. In co-operation with naval architects and classification bureau's, fixed fire-fighting systems are designed, installed & maintained. All the work is in regulatory compliance with national Maritime Authorities and Classification Societies such as Lloyds, ABS and BV.

Mr Haaf Marlet, Managing Director, says “Dante Extincteurs stands for quality and service in the inspection, installation and recharge of fixed fire-fighting systems of CO2, FM-200™ and NOVEC™1230. We are the exclusive distributor and refill station for SEA FIRE marine fire suppression systems. We have worked with Coltraco Ultrasonics for nearly 20 years, using Portalevel™ to identify the contents of fixed gaseous extinguishing systems. We have an intimate understanding of the products operationally and are proud to become the exclusive ODA Service Station for France and Monaco.”

Mr Carl S P Hunter, Chief Executive of Coltraco says, “We have had the great pleasure of knowing Haaf and Dante Extincteurs for nearly 20 years. Haaf’s company is, like him, an operation of reputational excellence and integrity. I am proud to be working with Haaf in this essential capacity as our exclusive ODA Service Station in France to support the French Maritime Industry and our customers in France and Monaco.”

Tyco Fire & Security UAE is a leading engineering, contracting and service company delivering totally integrated fire, security and telecommunications solutions throughout the Middle East. With an extensive 20-year experience as a specialist fire and security solutions provider, Tyco UAE offer global solutions, have international experience and tailor their packages to ensure that complete fire and security protection is provided to the most demanding of projects in the most challenging of environments. Tyco Fire & Security UAE are associated with major end-users and with the largest EPC Contractors operating in the Middle East and have provided totally integrated Fire Detection, Fire Protection, Security and Telecommunications solutions to some of the major developments in the GCC over the years in many market sectors - protecting people, property as well as the environment.

Mr. Nigel Millins, Operations Manager of Tyco Fire & Security UAE says, “With Permalevel™ Multiplex we now will be able to offer and deliver to premier customers, who value business continuity against the risk of accidental discharge or slow seepage, an integrated solution to enable 24/7 contents monitoring of their clean agent fire suppression systems.”

Mr. Carl Hunter, CEO of Coltraco Ultrasonics, says, “It is an important moment as Tyco Fire & Security UAE become our exclusive Strategic Partner in the UAE for Permalevel™ Multiplex. Our thanks go to Mr. Nigel Millins and the leadership team at Tyco UAE as we begin the work to enable safety-critical customer facilities & infrastructure in the UAE to be protected by Permalevel™ Multiplex. This will be installed and maintained by Tyco Fire & Security UAE under long term Total Care service contracts. We seek to develop this essential relationship with Nigel and his team to enable Tyco Fire & Security UAE to become a Coltraco Ultrasonics Organisation with Delegated Authority (ODA) Service Station for this system and the Portalevel™ MAX portable liquid level indicator product range.”

Building on sister company's Lea Machine Inc. appointment as our exclusive USA ODA Service Centre for Portalevel™ MAX and Portascanner™, in Hollywood, Miami, it was with great pleasure that Henry joined founding company's Alf Lea & Co.Brannvern’s Customer Conference in Haugesund to present the company and offer training in the use and service of the equipment. Alf Lea were established in 1950 and are approved as a service supplier by DNV, Lloyd's Register and ABS, listed with Achilles for offshore supplies and services and are shortly to become our ODA Service and Sales centre in Norway. Alf Lea & Co. are a & manufacturer of type-approved CO2 total flooding systems and a total concept supplier of fire and safety equipment for ships, industry and offshore supplying fixed fire extinguishing systems including CO2 and NOVEC™ 1230. Statoil and Survitec were amongst the Offshore & Marine customer organisations represented at the conference. We thank Directors Mr Toralf Lea and Mr Frank Fjellving for their kindness and professionalism as always. Alf Lea & Co. are shortly to become our ODA Service and Sales centre in Norway

It is with pleasure that we have been invited by our Russian partners, SEC GARM of St Petersburg, to support their kind exhibition of our Portalevel™ MAX & Portascanner™ products at Offshore Marinetec 7th-10th October. Mr Alexander Petrov of SEC GARM says, "..Since shipbuilding is a booming sector of the Russian economy with a huge potential for further growth we believe that innovations will be the cornerstone of success in its development. We are proud to work together with such companies as Coltraco providing our customers with their state-of-the-art equipment & design solutions for the marine & offshore sectors”. Clare, our Business Development Manager says, “These are all ultrasonic technology and are on-board nearly 17% of the world’s fleet of vessels, and on-board 90% of the platforms in the UK North Sea and on every platform with Transocean, but also in service with marine servicing companies and marine surveyors, P&I Clubs, though by far the largest user group are shipping & ship-management companies.

Coltraco at SMM in Hamburg & IMPA Conference in London, September 2014

This month has been a busy one in our shipping markets for the company meeting clients and distributors from across Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Our equipment is now aboard 17% of the world’s Fleet of commercial ships and specified in most new-buildings. Shipping is a core market for 2 of our product lines : Portalevel™ monitoring of marine CO2 fire suppression systems and Poratscanner™ watertight integrity testing of ships hatch-covers, watertight compartment doors and cable transit areas. Whilst Karen and George headed our delegation to SMM in Hamburg, Clare led our team to the IMPA Conference & Exhibition in London.

Clare, Manager Business Development comments, “Shipping is our foundation. We are delighted to meet so many of our customers and partners, and to explore business with candidate partners. As a leading marine instrumentation OEM we are seeking more forward-looking and dynamic partner companies who reflect our ethical values and operate with the levels of integrity we require to help develop and nurture our globally recognised brand. It is exciting for me to represent the company at IMPA in London and to help develop further our dedication to Safety at Sea. We never forget the contributions that the Officers and Crew and Technical Management teams of our customer vessels make to both our company and to international trade”.

Welcome to yet another member of the Coltraco Team – Mr Kazimierz (Kaz) Leon Aremka – our new Head of Marine, New Zealand!

Today we sign our latest agreement to bring our new partner, Kaz, to lead our marine work in New Zealand. Kaz will also be able to assist with matters in the surrounding region where his skills and experience can help.

Kaz has a wealth of experience in the marine market as you can see from his many positions as Managing Director, Senior Surveyor, Marine Chief Engineer, ISO/ISM Certified Auditor, Class Surveyor, Maritime NZ Recognized SSM Surveyor, Technical Manager, Superintendent and Consultant. With knowledge about cargo insurers and P&I Clubs, Kaz will also be focussing on the naval and ship owners in NZ and the Pacific Islands. Kaz is an adept Portascanner® II user who appreciates the value that the mathematical accuracy offers to our all users.

Would you like to get in touch with Kaz? Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call us on +44 207 629 8475 and we will gladly put you in touch.

We are delighted to welcome another new addition to our Team - Mr Tan Beng Hai – our new Head of Marine, Singapore!

Mr Tan is our new Head of Marine Singapore which we are very excited about to assist our customers in the region as well as providing a focal point for our agents in the Singapore marine sector. Mr Tan will be happy to assist in many circumstances so please let us know if you would like to get in touch with him.

“More important is one's journey in life with proper values, raise our family rightly and, in the words of a well-known Singaporean, "to leave behind a nice fragrance at the end of our life.”

Mr Tan was granted a scholarship from the Singapore Government to study in University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK. I graduated with a BSc (Ist class Honours) in Marine Engineering. Thereafter, he served his National Service for 5 years as a Naval Engineer in the Singapore Navy. Mr Tan’s first job in the private sector was with a subsidiary of Wallems Shipmanagement as a Superintendent. Thereafter, he was to work in the Oil Industry for over 20 years initially as a Technical Service Executive and later in the Commercial Department. He worked for British Petroleum, Gulf Oil Corporation and Chevron Corporation. Mr Tan’s last employment was with a Singapore Government owned company which was an international trading corporation. Finally, he left and formed his own company Flair Oil Singapore. Mr Tan was previously a member of the Institute of Marine Engineers, UK and Council of Engineering Institute (CEng), UK.

Please email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call +44 207 629 8475 to learn more about how you can work together with Mr Tan in Singapore.

CEO Award Royal Aeronautical Society

It is with great pleasure that we announce that our CEO has been made a Member of the Royal Aeronautical Society. Carl has worked internationally for 20 years in Aerospace with some of the world’s leading OEM’s and Airlines throughout Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe and North America, often at Governmental level. He has a particular interest in the Commonwealth and is also a Member of the Royal Society for Asian Affairs and a Fellow of the Institute of Marine Engineers.

Coltraco aims to be the suppression industry’s life-safety tech partner. At the NFPA 2014 Expo in Las Vegas last week we conducted the USA launch of the new continuous monitoring system Permalevel™ Multiplex. It is designed for 24/7 remote monitoring & diagnosis of contents in suppression systems containing CO2, FM-200™, NOVEC™ 1230, Halon 1301 & 1211, HFC-225 & 227 and FE-13™, FE-25™ and FE-36™. Demonstrating alongside it was our portable & UL-approved Portalevel™ MAX portable liquid level indicator. Karen had the great pleasure of meeting customers old and new from across the USA, and Central & South America.. whilst George had the great opportunity to meet some of the largest fire suppression companies in the world, and established relationships with companies with extensive distribution networks. Henry’s demonstration showed how our UL-approved Portalevel™ MAX could identify liquid levels in 30 seconds and under. We managed some time off with a flight across the clear night skies of Nevada. Concurrent with all this we launched our New York office to enable US customers to access us easily and announced Coltraco’s new ODA service station in Miami enabling US customers to calibrate units in the USA. We understand our customer’s demands and the environment of using our systems and products across the widest variety of suppressant gases and underpinned by our resourcing of research and development to account for the ever-changing nature of our industry. We thank the NFPA for this wonderful opportunity and our customers in the USA.

Canadian distributors, Survitec Canada/DBC Marine exhibit at The Next Wave Conference, Vancouver BC

We thank Survitec Canada/DBC Marine Safety Systems Ltd for exhibiting at the Next Wave Conference last week. We are very excited about the prospects of working with Survitec Canada/DBC Marine Safety Systems Ltd to support our Canadian customer base and we look forward to a long term teaming relationship with them. They will be focused on supporting the Coltraco Ultrasonics brand and our Portalevel™range across shipboard fire safety & Portascanner™ for ships watertight integrity especially.

If you would like to get in touch with DBC or work with us in Canada please email George on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Portalevel™ MAX Nippon, an Anglo-Japanese Partnership

Coltraco launched in Tokyo today 2 units dedicated to the Japanese market: Portalevel™ MAX Nippon and Portalevel™ Mini Nippon. Both liquid level indicator units have been designed and configured with DKSH our partner in Japan to support the Japanese fire safety market in fire engineering companies, data centre’s, high rise buildings, power generating & electricity distribution companies, shipping & marine surveying and the Japan Maritime Self Defence Force and the Japan Coast Guard. Marine applications are additionally supported by the use of the Mini Extension Rod. DKSH are Coltraco’s partner company in Japan. DKSH is a Swiss Market Expansion Services Group. Although its headquarters is in Zurich, DKSH is deeply rooted in communities all across Asia Pacific. With 735 business locations in 35 countries - 710 of them in Asia - and 26,700 specialized staff, the company has its origin in the activities of three Swiss entrepreneurs who sailed in the 1860s east to Asia. Independently and within a few years of each other, Wilhelm Heinrich Diethelm set off for Singapore, Eduard Anton Keller for the Philippines, and Hermann Siber for Yokohama. Portalevel™ MAX Nippon is designed to test CO2, FM-200™, NOVEC™ 1230, Halon 1301, HFC 225 & 227 to +/- 1.5mm and able to test each cylinder in 30 seconds. Coltraco support their products on a through-life maintenance basis. To see the unit in operation please View Video . Portalevel™ MAX Nippon is UL approved.

Portalevel™ MAX receives UL™ Approval

We are pleased to announce that our flagship portable liquid level indicator, Portalevel™ MAX, has been awarded UL approval dated 6 March 2014.

Products today must meet a diverse spectrum of certification and compliance requirements, and there is a growing need to provide more transparency into products in the marketplace. In response to evolving customer needs, UL (Underwriters Laboratories), a world leader in advancing safety is a global independent safety science company with more than a century of expertise innovating safety solutions. Dedicated to promoting safe living and working environments, UL helps safeguard people, products and places, facilitating trade and providing peace of mind.

We will begin delivering Portalevel™ MAX products with the UL mark once our IPI has been completed.

Mr Hunter, CEO of Coltraco Limited in London UK comments, “Nanjing Fire is a fine prospective strategic partner for our company in China. Predicated on the highest standards of technical proficiency, across the most comprehensive areas of expertise in the fire industry and with China’s only national fire test centre, our company feels great personal warmth towards the Chairman, Board of Directors and management team of Nanjing Fire and great professional regard for the people of this great company.

Coltraco are founded on the principle of “unique technical endeavour”. To turn Coltraco’s unique technical capability into commercial prosperity in China, we are proud to be holding discussions with Nanjing Fire to become our equal and strategic partner in China to develop the Chinese market for both our UL listed Portalevel™ MAX product & our continuous monitoring system, Permalevel™ Multiplex to provide full sales and service to the high asset value customer market in China.”

Mr Ralph Sugden – Head of Marine USA

It is with great pleasure that we can announce that Mr Ralph Sugden of Caribbean Marine and P&I USA Inc in West Palm Beach, Florida is now Coltraco’s Head of Marine - USA. Led by the remarkable ex-Chief Engineer Mr Ralph Sugden, Ralph and his company Caribbean Marine Inc. brings to the company a wealth of knowledge gained from his sea-going & shore experience. Ralph has worked throughout his career in Shipping, including a protracted period as a member of The Canadian Coast Guard Shipbuilding & Design Team. Ralph’s principal focus will be in developing & maintaining Coltraco’s relationships with Ship owners, Ship Managers, Ship Operators, Government authorities at various levels, plus Survey companies and Independent Surveyors in the USA and the Caribbean and with the International Group P&I Clubs and other P&I Insurers internationally.

Contact:

Organisation with Delegated Authority (ODA) Service Station in the USA

Lea Machine will assume responsibility for all Portalevel™ MAX & Portalevel™ Standard model type servicing & calibration requirements of our USA fire safety & marine customers, with a view to extending this ODA status to include Portascanner™ in the weeks and months to come. Henry recently joined Lea Machine in exhibiting at the Cruise Shipping Miami Expo earlier this month and he is with Mr William Jones and Mr Toralf Lea in the picture below.

Lea Machine Services Inc. are the dedicated contract service maintenance provider to Carnival Cruise and an Authorised Service Station for Draeger products.

It is hoped that this relationship will extend to include sister company Alf Lea & Company Brannvern AS in Norway.

Coltraco will be visiting distributors and customers in Tokyo and conducting the Singapore launch of Permalevel™ Multiplex at the Singapore Air Show 11-14 February. Recognizing the advanced nature of the fire safety market in the region for monitoring fire suppression systems containing CO2, FM-200™, NOVEC™ 1230, HFC 225 & 227, Halon 1301, FE-13™ and FE-25™ with portable Portalevel™ units and the fixed monitoring system, Permalevel™ Multiplex, Coltraco looks forward to making further commitments to the Asia region in the months ahead.

Our CEO has enjoyed several meetings in the snowy city of Tokyo, including with our longstanding Japanese partners in the fire safety sector DKSH. This relationship was initiated through Clay and Co which was established 1929 and acquired by DKSH in 2012. Dedicated products are being released into the Japanese market by DKSH including Portalevel® MAX Nippon and Portalevel® MINI Nippon.

Coltraco will be exhibiting at Intersec in Dubai 19-21 January 2014 and conducting the UAE launch of Permalevel™ Multiplex at the show. Recognizing the essential importance of the advanced fire safety market in the region Coltraco Middle East Limited is being established as a dedicated operating division of Coltraco Limited.

Coltraco Middle East Limited will serve premier safety customers in the Middle East and North Africa who require to monitor the contents of their fixed suppression systems containing CO2, FM-200™ , NAF s 227™, NAF S 125™ and NOVEC™ 1230 with Coltraco’s new 24/7 data-enabled, data-recordable audit trail capable and remote diagnostic, Permalevel™ Multiplex system. Coltraco Middle East Limitedwill operate across the Middle East and North Africa and commences with Coltraco Limited conducting the UAE launch of Permalevel™ Multiplex at Intersec 2014 from the 19th to 21st January in Dubai at Stand 4-130F.

Former British Chief Fire Officer Mr Neil Wallington, Head of Governance and Ms Karen Jones, Manager Sales and Marketing and member of the British equestrian GB Endurance team at parent company Coltraco Limited will be in attendance.

Our LinkedIn page was launched at the Dubai Air Show. Please click on the link to join us at LinkedIn. The growth in aviation fire safety is a major opportunity for Coltraco. The rapid development of complex data and telecommunication facilities in airports and their consequent need to be protected by high value FM-200 & NOVEC™1230 fire suppression systems is bringing about a whole new market for their permanent contents monitoring. Permalevel™ Multiplex enables 365 day per annum monitoring and provides remote diagnostic and data recoverable audit trail capabilities. Coltraco was proud to have a presence at the Dubai Air Show. Whilst in Dubai we also visited longstanding Portalevel™ customers – some of 20 years now - in the marine servicing and fire safety sectors across Dubai and Abu Dhabi and discussed hot weather use of the equipment with some of Dubai’s leading marine servicing customers. They face the challenge of conducting annual certification checks of ships fire suppression systems in high Summer temperatures; ships bunkering in Fujairah can exceed 45C in the Summer and their problem is added by the short 6 hour visiting time of the ships. Responsible marine servicing companies spend much time preparing the CO2 rooms and we are proud to be supporting them. Several customers have developed a fleet of different Portalevel™ model types and we spent time with some of them to upgrade them to Portalevel™ MAX commonality. Our new Portalevel™ Datalogger enables the owning company to retain a record of his service technicians liquid level readings – up to 1000 - and add these into a customer report alongside the maintenance report. Our team was very proud to be supporting these high quality companies there.

Coltraco are proud to release today the miniature Portamarine™ designed for ships crews to use on their ship CO2, FM-200™ and NOVEC™ 1230 fire suppression systems.

Accompanied by a Multi Bank Extension Rod this means that a ship can carry its own onboard 1.5mm accuracy hand-held unit to test multi-banked rows of cylinders between annual certification checks. Fitted with eyelets so that a carrying strap can be fitted, this enables the crew member or marine servicing technician to operate the unit “hands free”. Free-of-charge training is available on-line through our web-based training as we have made animated operating instructions to enable foreign crewmen whose first language is not English, to easily use and deploy the unit.

Please contact Mr George on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for further details.

Ms Karen Jones and Henry Hunter had the great pleasure of exhibiting at FPA Australia in Sydney. Pictured below, Karen was delighted to meet with our distributors and partner companies in Australia which is a “home” market for Coltraco’s Portalevel™ and Portascanner™ products across the fire safety, mining, defence, shipping and offshore oil and gas markets.

At the conference Karen and Henry initiated the Australian launch of Permalevel™ Multiplex, the “go-to” fixed monitoring system enabling remote diagnosis and data recordable audit trail capabilities for high asset value fire suppression system installations. During their stay in Australia Karen and Henry also visited shipping and defence customers and partner companies in Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne. Karen says, “We were delighted to speak to so many forward-looking and professional people about our new system Permalevel™ and we consider Australia very much a home market after 20 years of supporting our customers with Portalevel™ and Portascanner™ there”.

In Australian shipping we visited some of Australia’s leading shipowners, ship management and marine servicing companies. This was valuable as the company has recently launched the world’s first semi-permanent system capable of monitoring Bulk Carrier hatchcovers at sea. Known as Permascanner™ Dynamic it begins to address and monitor the issue of hatch coaming distortion at sea. Henry Hunter comments, “It was wonderful to build upon our longstanding relationships in Australia and to develop new strategic ones and we were warmly welcomed by the FPAA and our many friends and colleagues across Australia ”.

Coltraco has supplied equipment from its manufactured product range of 14 products and systems for over 20 years and is opening a Coltraco ODA (Organisational Delegated Authority) service station in Australia.

Today in Riyadh our CEO announced the Saudi Arabian launch of Permalevel Multiplex.

Invited as a Speaker at IFSEC 2013 in the Fire Conference Mr C S P Hunter explained the transformative capabilities of our fixed monitoring system designed to continuously monitor the contents of fixed suppression systems containing CO2, FM-200(TM) and NOVEC 1230(TM) to safeguard against the risk of accidental discharge or leakage.

With the ability to monitor multiple site locations simultaneously and provide a data recoverable audit trail Permalevel is designed to interface with alarm monitoring software and systems.

Coltraco is grateful to IFSEC 2013 and the Ministry of Interior for the opportunity to speak at this prestigous conference.

Mr Hunter was kindly awarded a plaque and Arabic coffee set which he gratefully received from representatives of the Minister of Interior, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Custodian of the Holy Places.

Kindly contact Mr George This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for further information on Permalevel Multiplex

Henry Hunter (pictured below) presented our range of systems and products used in the Offshore Oil and Gas sectors at International Energy in Cyprus, arranged by our partners in Russia SEC GARM of St Petersburg, whom we would like to thank for this opportunity to speak to industry leaders in the Russian oil and gas and marine industries. Henry delivered his conference address to executives and leading specialists of the companies interested in developing business activities in the Russian and CIS energy markets, including: energy industry companies and contractors, design offices for energy industry, oil & gas service companies, shipbuilding companies, OEMs (offshore and onshore objects infrastructure, FPSO, LNG, subsea equipment, communications, marine objects safety and security systems, etc.)

The main topics of the seminar were: offshore and onshore structures and equipment commissioning, operation and maintenance ; issues and perspectives of hydrocarbons transportation systems ; labour safety and security of energy industry objects ; features of energy projects development in various environments . Coltraco’s Portalevel™ equipment is used offshore to monitor installation fire suppression systems and, with Portascanner™ to test the integrity of compartment doors in offshore oil and gas installations and aboard hatch-covers on ships at sea.

The 3-day seminar was attended by senior representatives of the sector leading Russian companies, including Rosneft, LUKOIL, Krylov State Research Centre, Gazprom VNIIGAZ, SMD, Foster Wheeler, & Saipem .

FAO Coltraco Customers in British Columbia

Coltraco and our lead Canadian distributor, Kaycom, are proud to announce our new joint partnership with Survitec Vancouver/DBC Marine Safety Systems Limited for the distribution of Coltraco products.

We see this as a natural extension to the high quality Marine Safety equipment that they have been known to deliver to their customers for over 30 years. We are excited to be moving forward with this new endeavor as this will now give customers better access to the exclusive and complimentary Coltraco product line in British Columbia.

Keeping in step with Coltraco’s known excellence to customer support, DBC is fully committed to providing you with exceptional product and service.

For additional information, product questions or requests for quotations, please contact the following DBC experts:

Michael Edwards

Air Sea Service Administrator, Survitec Group / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Coltraco will be visiting Sydney for FPA Australia’s showcase fire protection conference and exhibition. Ms Karen Jones and Henry Hunter will be leading our team, and it will be the first public exhibition of our Permalevel™ Multiplex 24/7 continuous monitoring system for fixed fire suppression systems. We look forward to meeting many colleagues and friends in Sydney a city that means much to us here, and a country in which Karen spent her early years !

Coltraco were interviewed in August and it has been released in this month’s issue of International Fire Buyer pages 70-73.

It is the first editorial feature we have had for some time. We did not ask for the interview. It is clear that it is the characteristics of the Permalevel™ Multiplex design, which has taken 3 years to develop was its driver.

The Membership Committee of The Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology in London has approved our Managing Director’s election as a Fellow. Fellowship demonstrates our commitment to the shipping profession. Mr Hunter FIMarEST comments, “I am delighted and proud to become a Fellow of the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology. I hope this validates our Company’s commitment to manufacturing marine safety engineering products and systems across marine fire suppression system contents monitoring, hull plate measurement, maritime security and hatch-cover and watertight compartment door and cable transit area watertight integrity testing. It is part of our path towards marine safety engineering and we are aiming to contribute to transformation in specific areas of marine safety. Coltraco was founded by my Father, Mr E C Hunter, himself a member of the Admiralty Research Establishment following his 27 year career as a Royal Naval Submariner and I believe that this election is a direct reflection of all that my Father created in the company.

Coltraco, Ltd. is proud to have been appointed as exclusive agent for NLA Diagnostics in the European Union. We will market and promote sales of the NLA DEFENDER® and the NLA RECON™ on behalf of NLA Diagnostics, North Caroline, USA. Please click here for more information.

Coltraco appoints new Representative in Canada - January 2013

We are pleased to announce the recent appointment of a new Representative in Canada. Kaycom Inc., Quebec will assist Coltraco in establishing a comprehensive sales/distribution and support network in the country. Please click here for more information.

Portalevel® Basic – UPDATE

After 20 years, we now manufacture a range of 7 model types, from the cheapest in the world - Portalevel® Basic - through to the “gold standard” Portalevel® MAX in fire suppression cylinder testing, and up to the most complex in the world including Portalevel® Datalogger. We are proud to hold a Never Beaten On Price Guarantee whereby we promise to match or even beat any other quotation for a similar product – please do ask for details. The Portalevel® Basic is for the entry level fire service engineer or for those wishing to complete in-house servicing in-between the regulatory checks. Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for our most competitive price.

Portagauge® III – *PRESS RELEASE*

Coltraco are proud to release our 3rd generation Portagauge® ultrasonic thickness gauge. We have been working on the design for the last 6 months in time for 2013. We are delighted to have combined the benefits of a long-serving successful gauge with totally new componentry on the board and aesthetics – making it a reliable, robust, easy to use and accurate thickness gauge. Contact us today for more information about the above and Portagauge® III – This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

September 2012 News – Visiting New Zealand 7-12 October 2012

Coltraco is visiting New Zealand 7-12th of October 2012 and will also be exhibiting at the Fire Protection of New Zealand Conference 10-11 October in Auckland, and also seeing friends and customers from Australia and New Zealand who will be there. Coltraco have also become signatories to the Fire Protection Association of NZ Code of Ethical Conduct. Please contact Coltraco at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to arrange meetings and visit our new product site at www.portalevel-max.com to see our latest liquid level indicator design now operating in 20 countries on 5 continents.

July 2012 - Introducing the new Portalevel™ Analytical from Coltraco Limited

We are pleased to announce the launch of Portalevel™ Analytical. The Portalevel Analytical has been based significantly on the recent Portalevel MAX unit and offers the user a further variety and depth of capabilities. The internal analysis of the unit can interface with an oscilloscope so that an operator can study the ultrasonic energy waveforms.This provides an operator with a definite insight to the ultrasonic signal as it passes through the cylinder or tank and the behavior it is experiencing. The Portalevel MAX aspect of the Portalevel Analytical can also be used in a standalone capability without the oscilloscope for the more typical applications. This offers the user with the ability to gain a more complete understanding of how the unit is operating in different materials and the most versatility across a variety of applications:

Featuring

Building on the design of Portalevel™ MAX, this unit operates with the simple Go-No-Go indication

Universal port allowing the unit to interface with any oscilloscope and supplied with its own Oscillograph

In interface with an oscilloscope so that an operator can study the ultrasonic energy waveforms

Giving a definite insight as to the behavior of the ultrasonic signal as it passes through the cylinder or tank on the Oscillograph, simultaneously with the display from the Portalevel™ Analytical itself.

George Hunter as our Director of Sales 1st of June 2012

It is with pleasure that Coltraco appoints George Hunter as our Director of Sales with effect 1st of June 2012. George has operated successfully in the shipping, offshore-petrochemical, aerospace and defence and fire safety sectors for 3 years, creating special relationships with senior and operational leaderships in some of the world’s leading companies across 5 continents. Travelled and highly personable, George is a well regarded figure, and highly capable and able. George is pictured at the Singapore Air Show at which he recently represented the company. We wish him well in his duties, which will encompass the management of our global key customer accounts and distribution network. We wish him all success in this exciting new challenge which we know he will enjoy and thrive in.

June 2012 – Coltraco appoints George Hunter as our Director of Sales

It is with pleasure that Coltraco appoints George Hunter as our Director of Sales with effect 1st of June 2012. George has operated successfully in the shipping, offshore-petrochemical, aerospace and defence and fire safety sectors for 3 years, creating special relationships with senior and operational leaderships in some of the world’s leading companies across 5 continents. Travelled and highly personable, George is a well regarded figure, and highly capable and able. George is pictured at the Singapore Air Show at which he recently represented the company. We wish him well in his duties, which will encompass the management of our global key customer accounts and distribution network. We wish him all success in this exciting new challenge which we know he will enjoy and thrive in.

January 2010

We are delighted to announce that the Portamarine and Portalevel liquid level indicator have been fully Approved by RINA, the Italian Classification Authority and Member of the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS), for the monitoring of shipboard CO2 extinguishing systems. The process for securing RINA Approval for the Portascanner is also underway and we look forward to confirming the award of official RINA Approval shortly."

February 2010

Carl Hunter, Business Development Director, and George Hunter, Business Manager have just enjoyed a week in Singapore visiting our customers. In January they also visited Coltraco customers in Hong Kong, Denmark and Germany.

March 2010 – Coltraco Limited Travels to Hamburg

Earlier this month, a small delegation from Coltraco Limited travelled over to Hamburg to visit a number of our existing customers. We have worked in this great Hanseatic Trading City for many years and enjoyed a successful week.

In addition to this, we had the pleasure of launching our Portascanner II, Ultrasonic Watertight Integrity Tester into a major US Bulk Carrier fleet, in order to monitor the condition of all their Hatch covers.

We are delighted to announce that Commander (Retired) Tim Hayden, formerly of the Royal Navy, has joined Coltraco Limited as Naval Advisor. He will be assisting with the numerous Defence related projects that we are working on around the world. His timely arrival has corresponded with the introduction of our Portamarine, Ultrasonic Liquid Level Indicator, into the French Navy on a trial period.

Our sister company, Anglo Marine Overseas Services Limited have recently completed the redevelopment of their website. They have also finalised a Marketing Agreement with a leading On-Board Entertainment provider, in order to target the European based Ferry companies.

May 2010 – Leading Monaco based Tanker Fleet acquires Portamarine

A Leading Tanker Fleet based out of Monaco acquired Portamarine, Ultrasonic Liquid Level Indicators for their whole fleet this month. The Portamarine is the world leading Ultrasonic Liquid Level Indicator in the world with well over 11,000 units in operation globally. They are capable of identifying the liquid content of fire extinguishing cylinders and provide Ship Operators an ideal method of monitoring their Fire Suppression systems.

June 2010 – Demonstrations in the Far East with the Singapore Navy

A delegation from Coltraco Limited travelled out to Singapore this month in order to demonstrate the use of our equipment to the Singapore Navy. We were displaying the Portascanner II, Portamarine and Portagauge II units to them and spent a few days carrying out extensive trials and tests with our equipment. Whilst in Singapore we took the opportunity to visit many of our existing customers in the Region and enjoyed a wonderful few days renewing old friendships.

Throughout June as well our Business Development team travelled to Paris and a bright future relationship was also finalised with a company in China who we are looking forward to working with over the next few years.

July 2010 – Sellafield order 2nd Generation of the Permalevel

Sellafield Limited, the Nuclear Waste Management facility in the UK, specially commissioned Coltraco Limited to created a fixed Liquid Level Indicator in early 2000, to monitor some of their tanks. This month we are delighted to announce we will be delivering a second Generation of Permalevel’s to Sellafield and we look forward to supporting them further for the next 10 years.

The Managing Director and some of the Business Development team also travelled out to Hong Kong this month where they enjoyed a successful week visiting customers and creating new relationships.

August 2010 – Commissioning of the Next Generation of Technical Support from Coltraco Limited

This month, we have commissioned a big step forward in the way that we deliver post sales support to our customers. We will soon create a sophisticated, interactive, online training scheme for our Portascanner II, Ultrasonic Watertight Integrity Tester. This system will include a detailed visual tutorial of the optimum operation of the unit, depicting a realistic visual environment in which this equipment would typically operate. There will be interactive demonstrations using the equipment, for the user to imitate what has been previously taught and finally a resource of information showing the ideal methods of remedying any problems that are located. Coltraco Limited also finalised a marketing agreement with Intoximeters, USA, the world leaders in the Manufacture and Design of Alcohol Breath Test Equipment, and we look forward to supporting them in the Maritime Sector.

This month the Portascanner II successfully passed the final testing procedures and has been awarded Type Approval from the Italian Classifications Society and member of IACS, RINA. We look forward to launching this new approved unit into the market.

During September we also had delegations travelling to the SSM Show in Hamburg, our Managing Director visited Singapore and we also visited Rotterdam.

October 2010 – Demonstration to the Italian Navy in Toranto

The Portamarine, Portascanner II and Portagauge II were demonstrated to the Italian Navy this week, at their main Naval Base in Southern Italy, Taranto. We enjoyed a few days with the Italian Navy displaying the application and accuracy of our equipment on board one of their Aircraft Carriers, the Giuseppe Garibaldi. As well as interest from the Surface Fleet we also received noticeable interest from the NBC (Nuclear Biological and Chemical Warfare) & CW (Chemical Warfare) Departments who saw considerable benefit in using the Portascanner in maintenance and surveys of these seals around the vessels.

November 2010 – Travelling back out to Singapore

In November, we travelled back out to Singapore in order to visit our Customers in the Far East and in order to develop our relationship with the Singapore Navy.

Back at home, we also finalised out relationship with Solenvis Flow Meters, a leading supplier of Flow Meters to numerous different sectors across the UK and Europe. In our new relationship we will be jointly our product ranges and we look forward to a long and successful relationship with Solenvis.

December 2010 – A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from Coltraco Limited!

May we wish you all happy Holidays during this Christmas period and wish you all the prosperity and success for the New Year.

January 2011 – Coltraco Limited tour of the Middle East

Straight into 2011, and we had a team touring the Middle East visiting countries including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait & Bahrain.

Two more successful Projects began to materialise for us this month with both the Royal Navy and US Coast Guard procuring our Portascanner II and Portamarine units respectively. We have supported both of these organisation for over 20 years and it is always exciting for us to see this relationship continuing.

February 2011 – Middle East tour continued

Earlier this month, our delegation spent a week in the UAE, visiting Dubai, Sharjah & Abu Dhabi. It was an exciting trip for us returning to the UAE as we have not travelled out there for many years. Meeting customers in many different market sectors, Agents and Partners it was a truly beneficial and successful trip.

March 2011 – Leading European Bulk Carrier opts for the Portascanner II

This March, yet another leading European Bulk Carrier Operator has decided that the Portascanner II is the equipment of choice for their Bulk Carrier Fleet. This is exciting news form Coltraco Limited and yet more confidence that our Ultrasonic Watertight Integrity Tester is the unit of choice for Operators looking to monitor the condition of their Hatch covers and to reduce the risk of water ingress damage. Our Travels continued at Coltraco Limited with George Hunter, our Manager Business Development, travelling out to Antwerp, Belgium.

April 2011 – Off to visit Hamburg

Never miss an opportunity to visit, a small team went out to Hamburg to visit all of our existing customers. Another excellent trip to the Region and always a delight to be there.

May 2011 – Launching of new Website & Micro Site

This Month we have the pleasure of the combined launch of our new website and our Microsite! Both of these developments are a step forward for Coltraco Limited in delivering all of our Customers the most easy and pleasant experience that we can. We look forward for the benefits of our New Training Microsite to filter down to our customers and we do hope that all the users of the Portascanner II get a chance to use it soon. (If you are a user of the Portascanner and have not yet been given access, please email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

June 2012 – Coltraco Ltd to Launch New Products

Coltraco Ltd is launching couple of safety management and preventative maintenance solution for its clients across the globe in the month of June. The new products include Permalevel®, Permalevell® Multiplex, Portalevel® MAX, Permascanner™ Dynamic and Portacare®. All these products are specially designed to serve different safety management and preventative maintenance purposes. To know details of these products and how they best work for you, just click here

June 2012 – Launching of PERMASCANNER

Coltracto Ltd is also pleased to announce the launching of Permascanner™ Dynamic – a semi fixed system designed to enable an operator to monitor the watertight or weathertight degradation of the seals in watertight compartments, doors, holds and hatchcovers. The system includes full Portascanner® kit together with Extended Hi-Life Extended Permascanner® Generator. Coltraco Ltd also provides 3 year warranty and life time technical support for this equipment. click here

July 2012 -Next Generation Portalevel™ MAX Launches at Posidonia 2012

After 2 years in development Coltraco Limited launched Portalevel™ MAX at last month's Posidonia 2012, the world's most prestigious maritime exhibition. Portalevel™ MAX is the Next Generation portable liquid level indicator for monitoring fire suppression systems comprising CO2, FM200™, NOVEC™, Halons, and other liquid-based Halon replacement extinguishants using easy-to-use clean, environmentally-safe ultrasonic technology. Over 20 years Coltraco has pioneered the deployment of portable ultrasonic liquid level indicators globally with Naval, Shipping, Offshore-Petrochemical, Power-Generating and Fire Safety Engineering users across 105 countries. Portalevel™ MAX uses our 8th generation technology embodying the best of our Royal Naval and Admiralty Research traditions. Its NATO Stock No is 6680-99-192-2735 and the design team was led by Mr Eric Charlton Hunter, who was engaged in SONAR in HM Submarine Service and the Admiralty Research Laboratories in the UK for over 30 years. The aim of Portalevel™ MAX was to produce an ergonomic "Go-No Go" unit Including a variety of new features:

CEO Message

Integrity and Science Key to Our Culture of Performance

Dear Coltraco Customers, Strategic Partners and Distributors,

Integrity is our defining value. Performance is its consequence. We understand that our customers have choices, and how we perform determines whether customers choose us. Coltraco’s Code of Ethics does not merely require compliance with laws. It embodies a Commitment to positive behaviours that build trust, promote respect, operate with distinction, with courtesy and global levels of performance, demonstrating our integrity and delivering customer performance.

We honour our commitments, communicate transparently, and act with honour. Ethics are the foundation of our performance culture and our science-based approach. We lead in specific technologies delivering the watertight integrity monitoring of marine structures and the monitoring of fixed liquefied gaseous fire extinguishing systems and the room integrity of protected space to ensure agent hold-times post-installation. We show this by our understanding of the science in them and the mathematics that explain them.

I would like to thank you for your business and for the relationships with our Customers, Strategic Partners, Distributors and ODAs who we value so highly.